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Mabie House, Rotterdam, N* Y. 

The oldest house in the Mohawk Valley. 

Built in 1680. 



The Mohawk Valley 



Its Legends and Its History 



WfMa/Reid 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY 



J. Arthur Maney 




NEW YORK AND LONDON 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
?rbe fcntchcrbocl^ec press 



igoi 




Copyright, iqoi 



W. MAX REID 



Ube Iknichcrbocfcer pteee. View lE>orls 



TO 

CHRISTINE 

WHO HAS GIVEN THE SYMPATHY AND ASSISTANCE 

IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS VOLUME 

THAT ONLY A LOVING DAUGHTER CAN OFFER 

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED 



PREFACE 

THE Mohawk Valley, with its stirring scenes connected 
with the French and Indian wars and the War of the 
Revolution, has been sadly neglected by historians 
and writers of fiction. Yet within its borders have 
been enacted tragic events and heroic endeavors that helped 
materially in crowning with victory the efforts and sacrifices 
of the patriots of the Revolution. 

There is no section of pleasant valley-land, of lake-and for- 
est-dotted wilderness, of rushing streams and cultivated fields, 
east of the Mississippi, that surpasses in its wealth of scenery 
this bit of the Empire State. It is natural that such a land 
should be rich in romance both legendary and historical. 
From Schenectady to Rome, every town has its romantic 
story of the early wars; every bit of woodland has its wealth 
of prehistoric legend. The book, after all, is only a written 
record of oft-told tales. But such tales hitherto were widely 
scattered. Some are familiar to every American boy who has 
read TJic Last of the MoJiicans and its companion stories ; some 
may be heard from the lips of gray-haired citizens of many 
villages, who retell the tales their grandfathers told them of 
frontier fights and Indian massacres; and the musty archives 
of every Valley town have their own story of war and sacrifice 
and the struggles of early border life. 

This work deals with the period embraced between the 
years 1609 and 1780. Many characters of national interest 
figure prominently in the book, and its illustrations have been 



vi Preface 

carefully selected so that the reader may not only read of, but 
see, the more notable landmarks that remain. 

In compiling this work I have become indebted to many 
individuals and many publications for information received, 
and take this opportunity to gratefully acknowledge assistance 
from the following-named persons and documents: 

Augustus C. Buell, W. M. Beauchamp, A. N. Ruttenber, 
John Fiske, Prof. E. N. Horsford, Gen. John S. Clark, Gil- 
bert Wemple, A. R. Grider, Hon. Stephen Sanford, Cyrus B. 
Chase, Washington Frothingham, Rev. W. E. Grififis, W. L. 
Stone's Life of Sir Williavi JoJinson, Beers's History of Mont- 
gomery, B. J. 'Lossmgs Field-Book of the Revolution, Colonial 
History of Nezv York, Documentary History of Neiv York, 
Francis Parkman, Gen. James Grant Wilson, Prof. Jonathan 
Pearson's Schenectady Patent ; J. Wynne, S. J. ; David Hutchi- 
son, Library of Congress; Reuben Gold Thwaites' Jesuit Re- 
lations ; Victor Hugo Paltsits, Lenox Library; New York 
State Library, F. W. Halsey, and a large number of friends 
that want of space will not permit me to enumerate. 



W. Max Reid. 



Amsterdam, N. Y. 

Oct. 21, I go I. 



CONTENTS 



I — The Mythical City of Norumbega 

II — The Mohawks 

Ill— Journal of Arent Van Curler 

IV — Schonowe or Schenectady . 

V — Immigration and Settlement of the 
Palatines 

VI — Queen Anne's Chapel .... 

Vll — Count Frontenac and the Mohawk 
Valley 

VIII — Sir William Johnson .... 

IX — Guy Park and Fort Johnson 

X — In the Old Town of Amsterdam . 

XI — The Last Battle between the Mohawks 
and Mohicans. The Famous Butler 
Mansion 

XII — Johnstown, New York 

XIII — Some Accounts of the Notorious Butler 
Family 

XIV — Legend of Mrs. Ross 

XV — The Joseph Brant of Romance and of Fact 



PAGE 
I 

5 

19 
49 

77 
84 

98 

113 
123 

155 

181 
193 

21 1 
240 

259 



viii Contents 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XVI— Incidents Relating to the Early His- 
tory OF Amsterdam and the Mohawk 
Valley 275 

XVII — Canagera, One of the Mohawks' Castles 298 

XVIII — Early Industries 321 

XIX— Old Indian Names and Sites— The Legend 

OF Little Falls 344 

XX— Canajoharie — The Hills of Florida . 376 

XXI — Oriskany 411 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 
Mabie House, Rotterdam, N. Y. . Frontispiece 

The Oldest House in the Moha7i<k \^ alley. Built in 1680. 

The Primitive Mohaick Valley 

The Rocky Walls of the Canajoharie . 

On the Road, Cranesville, N. Y. (Ad-ri-n-che) 

A Valley By-Road and the Ya.ntapiitchaberg 

Kinaquarone ( Hoffmans ) .... 

Old St. George' s Church, Schenectady, ly^g 

Interior of Old St. George s, Schenectady, ly^g 

The Old Glen-Sanders House, Scotia, lyij . 

Door in the Glen-Sanders House . 

The De Graaf Honse, Beukendaal 

The Arent Bradt House, Woestyne, lyjS 

The fan Mabie Honse, Rotterdam, 1680 

On the Old iMohazuk Turnpike 



The Old Queen Anne Parsonage, Fort Hunter, lyiz Sg 



Queen Annes Mohawk Communion Plate, IJ12 

Falls on the South Chuctanunda . 

The Juchtanunda, Amsterdam 

Sir Willia7n J ohnson, Bart., iji ^-lyj/f. 



Page 

7 

15 
25 
31 
35 
51 
55 
59 
63 
67 

7^ 
75 
79 



95 

lOI 

105 
1^5 



X Illustrations 

Page 

A Windoiu in the Old ChtircJi at German Flats . iig 

An Attic Corner, Glen-Sanders House, Schenec- 
tady 125 

The Attic Windozv, Old Fort Johnson , . . I2g 

An Old Colonial Mansion, Gny Park, Amsterdam, 

17^3 135 

Old Fort Johnson, Mount Johnson, Akin, 1742 . 14 j 

A Fireplace of the Olden Time, Old Van Alstyne 

Hottse, Canajoharie, 1750 .... i^y 

Map of Schenectady in i6g^ .... 75/ 

Winter on the Evcs-Kil Road, Cranesville , . i ^y 

htterior of Old Croat Mill, Cranesville . . 161 

The Doorway of Old St. Marys .... 16^ 

Curious Windozv, Old Ehle House, Nelliston, 

iyS2 ........ i6g 

On the Chuctanunda, West Galzuay . . . i/j 

Old St. Marys, Bine Corners .... lyy 

Sunset in the Mohawks Land, Tribes Hill . . i8j 

The Butler House on Siuitzcr Hill, ly^j . . iSj 

Caughnawaga Church, Fonda, !j6j-iS68 . . igi 

The Old Stone Fort at JoJinson Hall, Johnstoum, 

17^3 ^95 

Johnson Hall, Johnstown, ij6j .... igg 

St. JoJins Church and Grave of Sir William 

Johnson, Johnstown, iW Y. . . . 20J 



Illustrations 



XI 

Page 
20"/ 



223 

260 
263 



The Old yoJnistown Jail, I'/'J2 .... 

The Cotu^t House, Johnstown, i'j'j2 

Along the Mohawk ...... 

The DruDini House, Johnstown, 1^63 . 

The Black-Horse Tavern, Younglove Homestead, 
Johnstown, lyS — ...... 

Joseph Bratit ( Thayendanegea ) .... 

Church at German Flats ..... 

hiterior of Old Dutch Church at German Flats . 26g 

The Old Van Alstyne House, Fort Renssalaer, 

Canajoharie, ly^o ..... 2^2 

The Old Academy, formerly a Stage House, called 

" Globe Hotel^' Amsterdam, N. Y. . . 283 

The Old Stone Kitchen at Wemfs . . . 301 

The Ancient Burial-Ground at Wemf s . . 30"/ 

The Road through Wolf Hollow . . . -3^/ 

The Road to Galway ( Hagaman s ) . . . 323 

An Old Deserted Home, West Galway . . 331 

Tekakwitha Sprmg, Fonda ..... 3^^ 

The Falls of the Canajoharie .... 331 

Adrintha Falls, Cranesville .... 337 

Moss Rock at the Foot of the Rapids, Little Falls 361 

The Ragged Rocks at Little Falls . . . 363 

On the Tow-Pat h. Little Falls .... 36 g 



Xll 



Illustrations 



Page 
373 



The Old Aqueduct, Little Falls . 

The Old Frey House, Palatiiie, //jp . 

The Peter Ehle House, Nclliston, iys2 

Brant's Church at Indian Castle, ij6j 

The Home of General Herkimer, Danube 

The Old Scotia Brido^e .... 

The Oriskany Monument 

Oriskany Battle-field, East Side of Ravine 

The Oriskany Battle-field, with Remains of Old 

Wood-Road in the Foreground . . . ^2/ 

The Old Pulpit in the Church at German Flats . ^jj 

The Oriskany Battle-field ..... 4jg 

Guard Lock — Site of Queeft Annes Chapel . 441 



379 
383 
387 
391 
395 
413 
421 



THE MOHAWK VALLEY 



The Mohawk Valley 

Chapter I 
The Mythical City of Norumbega 

IT may seem strange to readers of a book that purports to 
be a history of the Mohawk Valley, that the author 
should go so wide afield as to connect it with a mysteri- 
ous country a thousand miles away and whose exact 
locality is unknown to this day. Undoubtedly the mythical 
city of Norumbega, together with the equally mythical North- 
west Passage to India, was an incentive to early navigators, to 
visit the shores of the New World and to explore its eastern 
coast. Mystery and the marvellous is even now, at the be- 
ginning of the twentieth century, attractive to the majority of 
mankind, but how much more so in the sixteenth century, 
with the imagination quickened by the discoveries of the 
Spaniards under Cortez and Pizarro and the wonderful treas- 
ures secured in Mexico and Peru. 

That the northeast coast of America was visited by Bre- 
ton (1504) and Basque fishermen, in search of fish for the Cath- 
olic countries of Europe, before the discovery and naming of 
the St. Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534-5, is a 
matter of history, and that they should have made temporary 
homes on the shores near their fishing grounds seems natural, 
and that, in some cases, it became necessary to protect their 



2 The Mohawk Valley 

camps by rude forts, more or less strong, seems reasonable. 
We are therefore inclined to believe that there may be some 
truth in the traditionary French (Breton) fort, said to have been 
located on an island near Albany, many years before the voy- 
ages of Henry Hudson. 

The land, river, and city of Norumbega seems to have 
been known to nearly all of the early navigators of the Atlan- 
tic, and the incentive for many a quest by Verrazano in 1524, 
Alleforce under Roberval in 1543, Thevet in 1556, and 
Champlain in 1603-14. 

And is it a wonder, when such a story as the following 
was told and believed: 

An Englishman had left a record of having seen a city bearing 
the name of Norumbega, and the city was three-quarters of a mile 
long. 

This man, David Ingram, a sailor, had been set on shore by Sir 
John Hawkins in 1568, at Tampico, on the Gulf of Mexico, with 
some hundred and twenty others in stress for food. He had wan- 
dered all the way across the country, visiting many large Indian 
towns, and coming at length, in 1569, to the banks of the Norum- 
bega. He sailed from the harbor of St. Mary's (one of the earlier 
names for Boston Bay) a few hours distant from the Norumbega he 
visited, and ultimately got back to England, where he again met and 
was kindly received by Sir John Hawkins. He told a story that 
surpasses belief. He had seen monarchs borne on golden chairs, 
and houses with pillars of crystal and silver. He had visited tlie 
dwelling of an Indian chief where he saw a quart of pearls; and 
afterwards increased it to a peck of pearls. He was brought in 
audience before Sir Humphrey Gilbert, the kinsman of Sir Walter 
Raleigh. Thevet who had been at Norumbega, on the banks of 
what he pronounced " one of the most beautiful rivers in all the 
world," was present and confirmed Ingram in part.' 

Whittier, in his poem " Norumbega," makes the weary 

'From monograph by Prof. E. N. Horsford, who claimed to have found the site 
of Norumbega City, on the banks of the Charles River at Weston, near Boston, and 
that the Charles was the Norumbega River. 



The Mythical City of Norumbega 3 

Christian Knight who is dying in his fruitless search for the 
mythical city, "at shut of day," see a vision like a pipe dream. 
" I see, he said, " the domes and spires of Norumbega 
town " — " What sounds are these but chants and holy 
hymns " — " It is a chapel bell that fills the air with its low 
tones " — " The Christ be praised — He sits for me a blessed 
cross in sight" — " I fain would look before I die on Norum.- 
bega's walls," 

Pierre Biard, Lescarbot, and other Jesuits, repeatedly 
speak of Norumbega as being on the Pentegoet or Penobscot 
River. In fact. La Saussaye, when he sailed from Port Royal 
(now Annapolis, Nova Scotia), intended to establish the settle- 
ment of St. Sauveur on the Norumbega or Penobscot, at the 
place now known as Bangor, Maine, but finally settled on 
Mount Desert Island. 

Champlain sailed up the Penobscot in his search for the city 
of Norumbega, and his map of 1613 shows the name of Nor- 
umbega on the Penobscot in the vicinity of Bangor. 

The map of Ortelius, 1570, and Solis's map of 1598, shows 
the country of the Montagnes Indians east of Norumbega. 
(The country of the Montagnes was between Three Rivers 
and the Saguenay, in the province of Quebec.) If these maps 
are correct, it would make the Penobscot the Norumbega 
River. 

John Fiske, in his very excellent book called Tlic Dutch 
and Quaker Colonies of America, by very ingenious reason- 
ing, and with the help of Maiollo's map of Verrazano's discov- 
eries, 1527, Gastaldi's map of 1550, and Mercator's Duisburg 
map of 1569, claims that the Hudson was the Norumbega, and 
that Manhattan Island was the site of the city and that it was 
located on the border of the collect or pond now marked by 
the gloomy prison called the Tombs. He suggests that the 
name may be a corruption of Anormee Berge, which he says 



4 The Mohawk Valley 

means Grand Scarp in sixteenth-century French, and was ap- 
pHed to the Hudson River by Verrazzano, who describes it as 
a very broad river running between small steep hills, evidently 
referring to the Palisades. Fiske says: " What better epithet 
than Grand Scarp could be applied to those majestic cliffs. It 
is clear that for a quarter of a century or more after the voyage 
of Verrazzano (1524) the Hudson River was visited by French 
fur traders, and that they had block-houses on Manhattan Is- 
land and at Albany." This was at least a half-century before 
the voyage of Henry Hudson and the renaming of the Hud- 
son River. 

If the Hudson River was the Norumbega, and if a city 
three-quarters of a mile long, with domes and spires and pil- 
lars of crystal and silver existed, it must have been known to 
the Aborigines of the Mohawk Valley, but, so far, we have 
been unable to find any traditionary evidence of the mythical 
city having been located within ths^ bounds of New York 
State. 

We do not expect, however, to find evidence among the 
Mohawks, because they are known to have been located at 
Hochelaga (Montreal) in 1535, and the lower Mohawk Valley 
was then occupied by tribes of the Algonquin nation, probably 
the Mohicans, the Abinakas, or the Andastes. 



Chapter II 
The Mohawks 

THE earliest record of the Mohawk Indians, whose ab- 
original name, as given by the Jesuit priest, Jean 
Brebeuf, was Agnierrhonons, contracted to Agniers, 
" the people of the flint," later called Mahaqua by 
the Algonquins, Maquas by the Dutch, and Mohawk by the 
English, is derived from Jacques Cartier's account of his voy- 
age up the St. Lawrence to Hochelaga (Montreal), in 1535. 

From their traditions, they were driven out of Canada by 
the Algonquins, probably during the latter part of the six- 
teenth century, because the large village that Cartier visited 
in 1535 was deserted and destroyed when Champlain visited 
this spot in 1608. 

It is probable that they made their way direct to the Mo- 
hawk Valley, but, being numerically weak, chose for new 
homes secluded spots deep in the forest, four or five miles 
from the Mohawk River, to build their palisaded castles, one 
of which, but recently discovered, I visited in the month of 
July, 1899. At that season of the year we find men all over 
the country attacked with a desire for a little relaxation from 
business or the regular routine of life, and a longing to flee 
from urban surroundings and spend a season in the fields and 
forests away from the abode of men, and, with gun and line, 
provide their daily food. We are apt to call it sport, but is it 
not, rather, the " old Adam " that is asserting itself, an in- 
mate longing to return to the primitive condition of man and 

5 



6 The Mohawk Valley 

battle awhile with nature for our own sustenance ? It is true 
that we like to take some of the luxuries of life with us when 
we go into the forests, but the greatest pleasure of it all is the 
freedom from care and the feeling that we are providing for 
our wants with our own hands and by our own exertions. Our 
thoughts are apt to revert to the time when the hardy pioneer 
was obliged to live as we are living, with the addition of a 
great deal of hard work and suffering thrown in. And then 
we think perhaps of the aborigines. Their mode of life and 
apparent freedom from cares has a charm for us for the time 
being, and we imagine we would like to adopt their customs 
and be forever free from the requirements of society and the 
fear of protested notes and overdue bills payable, and the un- 
certainty of bills receivable. But this longing lasts only a short 
season, and education asserts itself and we are glad to get back 
to the old treadmill, thankful if we can but bring with us re- 
newed health and strength for our battle with " the world, the 
flesh, and the devil." 

Our sojourn in the northern forests, however, lacks one 
element of the life of the Aborigines; and that is the constant 
watchfulness against savage enemies and the necessity of 
selecting for a home some secluded spot which nature and 
their rude art could make into a fortress. 

I have in mind such a spot which has lately been discov- 
ered by accident after having been abandoned for three or four 
centuries. In the year 1892. George W. Chapin, a woodman 
residing between Fonda and Johnstown, returning to his home 
from the latter place through a lonely wood on the bank of 
the Cayudutta Creek, observed a hole in the ground that had 
lately been made by a woodchuck. Examining the earth 
thrown out by the nimble feet of the rodent, he observed a 
fragment of pottery, which, upon examination, was found to 
be a piece of decorated earthenware of Indian manufacture. 



The Mohawks 9 

The discovery having been communicated to the late A. G. 
Richmond, W. M. Beauchamp of the New York State Mu- 
seum, and others, excavations were made which estabhshed 
the fact that the site of an ancient Indian fort, hitherto not 
known or suspected, had been discovered. Many interesting 
articles of Indian manufacture have been unearthed, some of 
which have been illustrated by \V. M. Beauchamp in the New 
York State Museum Bulletins, and the spot described by 
Robert M. Hartley in the Popular Science Ncivs, June, 1896. 

Within a few weeks I made three visits to this interesting 
spot with various friends, and must confess that it has a great 
charm to me; but although the articles brought away were 
numerous, they were of small value when compared with those 
secured by earlier visitors. I wish to thank Mr. Charles Gar- 
diner of Johnstown for his explicit instructions how to find 
the place. He said: " Get off at the station of Sammons- 
ville; walk up the track about a quarter of a mile, or until you 
come to an old stump field; pass through the stump field and 
the woods adjoining, until you come to a ravine; cross the 
ravine, and there you are." 

My first visit was made with Myron W. Reid for a com- 
panion, but when we arrived at the stump field, he was so 
charmed by the liquid, jingling notes of numerous bobolinks, 
that he deserted me for the time being and left me to pursue my 
quest alone. Thanks to Mr. Gardiner's instructions, the place 
was found without any trouble. Subsequent visits were made, 
and each time resulted in interesting discoveries. (I wish to 
say, however, that previous investigators, undoubtedly were 
just as succcessful or perhaps more so than I was.) 

The site of this ancient Indian fort is located on a high, 
broad point of land, between two ravines, which grow deeper 
as they approach the bed of the Cayudutta Creek, that flows 
by its western boundary. Both ravines run in a southerly 



lo The Mohawk Valley 

direction and through the easterly ravine flows a small perma- 
nent stream. The approach to the high ground of the Indian 
village from the Cayudutta Creek seems to have been through 
the latter ravine, which becomes a narrow, slaty gorge as it 
approaches the flats of the Cayudutta Valley, and owing to 
the dense growth of small trees and underbrush the entrance 
is not easily seen from the creek below. The gorge itself is 
quite picturesque, and its present condition suggests a possible 
method of defence used by the Indians, large trees having 
been felled and thrown into the bed of the creek, forming a 
rude breastwork. Even in the present condition of the huge 
rotten trunks they present an obstacle not easily overcome by 
the investigator. As you enter the gorge from below, you 
encounter a series of slaty ledges, over whose moss-covered 
surface the stream trickles slowly, making a series of slimy 
steps extending upward for twenty or thirty feet, or to the 
level of the higher ground of the forest. On the west side of 
the gorge these slaty steps have , been worn smooth and 
rounded by countless footsteps, up to a point about ten feet 
from the entrance, where a trail is seen ascending the side of 
the hill to the plateau above. As the trail or path approaches 
the top, it is worn in some places from four to six inches deep 
along the edge of the hill, showing that the place had been 
occupied for a considerable space of time by a numerous 
population. 

The plateau itself extends north to a considerable distance 
and is well covered with trees of large size and the rotten 
trunks of many monarchs of the forest. The place suggests 
seclusion, and its stillness is almost oppressive. The only evi- 
dence of life observable was the scurry of a solitar}/ partridge 
chick and the dismal croak of 2i pater fautilias crow, evidently 
solicitous for the safety of his little family in the top of one of 
the tall pines. Take it all in all, I would not recommend it 



The Mohawks ii 

as a very desirable place for a Sunday-school picnic. This 
spot has undoubtedly been visited by a number of " diggers," 
as is seen by the upturned black earth, plentifully sprinkled 
with small fragments of fresh-water clam-shells and occasional 
bits of pottery. 

It is evident that this spot was once an Indian forti- 
fication, as the line of the palisade is seen stretching across the 
plateau from ravine to ravine. Although I was unable to 
secure many relics of intrinsic value, my search was quite suc- 
cessful and resulted in unearthing a stone axe, a broken stone 
pestle, a few bone tools, and flint implements, together with 
forty fragments of as many decorated vessels of Indian pot- 
tery. One of the most interesting articles that have been un- 
earthed is a brass or copper bead, about six inches long. This 
was found by Mr. A. G. Richmond a few years ago, and is 
valued from the fact that it enables archaeologists to fix the 
probable date of the occupation of this secluded spot by the q^ 

Indians. As this is the only article found there that would 
indicate that the occupants had ever come in contact with 
white men, it must have been occupied previous to 1609, and 
subsequent to the discovery of the river St. Lawrence, in 1535. 
Many archaeologists are of the opinion that the Iroquois were 
the people whom Jacques Cartier met at Hochelaga (Montreal) 
and Stadacone (Quebec) on the occasion of his ascent of the 
St. Lawrence in 1535, and they advance the theory that they 
were driven out of Canada between that time and 1609, when 
Champlain found a new people at Stadacone (Quebec) and 
Hochelaga (Montreal) entirely deserted. 

W. M. Beauchamp, in a recent communication, says: 
"I should date the Mohawk Fort (Cayudutta) a little be- 
fore 1600, and think they had these long brass beads from 
the French, they are much alike and unquestionably Euro- 
pean. We are to remember, however, that the Iroquois had 



12 The Mohawk Valley 

villages as far down as Quebec in 1535, and seem to have 
often visited the mouth of the river where vessels often 
touched." 

Parkman says: " In the vocabulary of the language ap- 
pended to the journal of Cartier's second voyage, Canada is 
set down as a word for town or village. It bears the same 
meaning in the Mohawk tongue." " The language of Stada- 
cone, or Quebec, when Cartier visited it, was apparently a 
dialect of the Iroquois." You will probably remember that 
Cartier's first voyage was made in 1534, at which time he struck 
the mainland at Gaspe, opposite the island of Anticosta, and 
that he kidnapped two young Indians. These young savages 
returned with him in 1535, acting as interpreters, and are said 
to have been a part of a war party from Hochelaga, speaking 
a different language from the Indians of Gaspe, at which place 
they were found by Cartier. There was also a tradition 
among the Agnies (Mohawks) that their ancestors were once 
settled in Quebec, and relics found at Montreal correspond 
with articles found in Iroquois burial-places in western New 
York. Therefore we think it is safe to assume that the 
Cayudutta fort was probably one of the earliest settlements of 
the Iroquois (Mohawks) in the valley of the Mohawk and a 
place of great historic interest from the prehistoric character 
of the relics found there. 

Parkman, in his Pioneers of France in the N'ezv IVorld, says: 

"When America was first made known to Europe, the part assumed 
by France on the borders of that new world was peculiar, and is 
little recognized. While the Spaniard roamed sea and land, burning 
for achievement, red-hot with bigotry and avarice, and while Eng- 
land, with soberer steps and a less dazzling result, followed in the 
path of discovery and gold hunting, it was from France that those 
barbarous shores first learned to serve the ends of peaceful commer- 
cial industry. 

A French writer, however, advances a more ambitious 



The Mohawks 13 

claim. In the year 1488, four years before the first voyage of 
Columbus, America, he maintains, was found by a French- 
man. Cousin, a navigator of Dieppe, being at sea off the 
African coast, was forced westward, it is said, by winds and 
currents, to within sight of an unknown shore, where he pres- 
ently descried the mouth of a great river. On board his ship 
was one Pinzon, whose conduct became so mutinous that, on 
his return to Dieppe, he made complaint to the magistracy, 
who thereupon dismissed the offender from the maritime ser- 
vice of the town. Pinzon went to Spain, became known to 
Columbus, told him of his discovery, and joined him on his 
voyage in 1492. 

In the year 1535 Jacques Cartier, a Frenchman, sailed from 
the ancient town of St. Malo, France, and entered the bay of 
St. Lawrence, as Cartier named it, in August or September of 
the same year. Having with him the two Indian lads cap- 
tured in his former visit to these shores, he found them of 
great assistance in communicating with the natives. They are 
supposed to have spoken the Mohawk dialect. It is said that 
the Indian name for the St. Lawrence River was Hochelaga, 
and that the present site of Quebec was called Stadacona, 
whose king's name was Donnacona. Cartier says that the 
country below Stadacona (Quebec) was called Saguenay, and 
that above, Hochelaga. At Stadacona, Cartier was told of a 
large Indian town, many days' journey above, which was 
called Hochelaga, and had given the name to the river and 
country also. Passing up the river with a small galleon and 
two open boats and about fifty sailors, on the 2d of October, 
1535, they reached the mysterious Hochelaga. Their landing 
was made just below the present quays of Montreal, and 
thronging the shores were a thousand or more Indians await- 
ing the strangers. The next morning they were conducted to 
the Indians' town, Iving under the shadow of the mountain 



14 The Mohawk Valley 

which Cartier named Mont Royal — Montreal; "hence the 
name of the busy city which now holds the site of the vanished 
Hochelaga." 

A later writer, Lescarbot, insists that the country on both 
sides of the St. Lawrence, from Hochelaga to its mouth, was 
called Canada. The derivation of the name Canada is un- 
doubtedly Indian, and not Spanish, and it is a singular fact that 
in the vocabulary of the language of Hochelaga appended to the 
journal of Cartier's second voyage, Canada is set down as mean- 
ing town or village, and that it bears the same meaning in the 
Mohawk, and both languages are dialects of the Iroquois. 

Quoting still from Parkman's notes: " That the Indians of 
Hochelaga belonged to the Huron-Iroquois family of tribes is 
evident from the af^nities of their language and from the con- 
struction of their houses and defensive works. This was 
identical with the construction universal, or nearly so, among 
the Huron-Iroquois tribes." It is said that in i860 a quantity 
of Indian remains were dug up at Montreal that evidently be- 
longed to the Iroquois and not to the Algonquin type. There 
is said to be a tradition among the Agniers (Mohawks), one of 
the five nations of the Iroquois, that their ancestors were once 
settled at Quebec. A tradition recorded by Colden in his his- 
tory of the Five Nations (Iroquois), that they were formerly 
settled near Montreal, is of interest. The tradition declares 
that they were driven thence by ihe Adirondacks, which was 
the distinctive name of the tribes of the Algonquins located in 
Canada. 

It is said that when Champlain, in 1603, passed up the St. 
Lawrence, sixty-eight years after Cartier's visit, " Hochelaga 
and its savage population had vanished, and in their place were 
a few wandering Algonquins of different tongues and lineage." 

Champlain, in 1609, met them again on the shores of Lake 
Champlain, called by the natives Iroquois Lake. Champlain's 




THE ROCKY WALLS OF THE CANAJOHAKIE 



The Mohawks 17 

account of the meeting is so interesting that I will transcribe 
it in his own words: 

At nightfall we embarked in our canoes to continue our journey, 
and as we advanced very softly and noiselessly, we encountered a 
party of Iroquois, on the twenty-ninth of the month (July, 1609), 
about ten o'clock at night, at a point off a cape which juts into the 
lake on the west side. They and we began to shout, each seizing 
his arms. We withdrew towards the water and the Iroquois repaired 
on shore and arranged all their canoes, the one beside the other, 
and began to hew down trees with villainous axes, which they some- 
times got in war, and others of stone, and fortified themselves 
securely. 

Our party, likewise, kept their canoes arranged, the one along- 
side the other, tied to poles so as not to run adrift, in order to fight 
all together, should need be. We were on the water about an arrow 
shot from their barricade. 

When they were armed and in order, they sent two canoes from 
the fleet, which consisted of twenty-four canoes and sixty savages, 
to know if their enemies wished to fight, who answered they desired 
nothing else; but that just then there was not much light, and that 
we must wait for day to distinguish each other, and they would give 
us battle at sunrise. This was agreed to by our party. Meanwhile 
the whole night was spent in dancing and singing, as well on one side 
as on the other, mingled with an infinitude of insults and other taunts 
such as the little courage they had; how powerless their resistance 
against our arms, and that when day would break they should ex- 
perience this to their ruin. Ours, likewise, did not fail in repartee, 
telling them they should witness the effect of arms they had never 
seen before, and a multitude of speeches as is usual at a siege of a 
town. After the one and the other had sung, danced, and parlia- 
mented enough, day broke. My three companions and I were 
always concealed for fear the enemy should see us preparing our 
arms as best we could, being, however, separated, each in one of 
the canoes belonging to the savage Montagnaes. 

After being equipped with light armor, we took each an arquebus 
and went ashore. I saw the enemy leave their barricade; they were 
about 200 men, of strong and robust appearance, who were coming 
slowly towards us, with a gravity and assurance which greatly pleased 
me, led on by three chiefs. Ouis were marching in similar order, and 



1 8 The Mohawk Valley 

told us that those who bore three lofty plumes were the chiefs, and 
that there were but three, and they were to be recognized by those 
plumes, which were considerable larger than those of their com- 
panions, and that I must do all I could to kill them. I promised to 
do what I could, and that I was sorry they could not clearly under- 
stand me, so as to give them the order and plan of attacking their 
enemies, as we should undoubtedly defeat them all; but there was 
no help for that; that I was very glad to encourage them and to 
manifest to them my good will when we should be engaged. 

The moment we landed they began to run about two hundred 
paces toward their enemies, who stood firm, and had not yet perceived 
my companions, who went into the bush with some savages. Ours 
commenced calling me in a loud voice, and making way for me 
opened in two, and placed me at their head, marching about twenty 
paces in advance, until I was within thirty paces of the enemy. 
The moment they saw me, they halted, gazing at me and I at them. 
When I saw them preparing to shoot at us, I raised my arquebus, 
and aiming directly at one of the three chiefs, two of them fell to 
the ground by this shot and one of their companions received a 
wound of which he died afterwards. I had put four balls in my 
arquebus. Ours on witnessing a shot so favorable for them, set up 
such tremendous shouts that thunder could not have been heard; 
and yet there was no lack of arrows on one side and the other. 

The Iroquois were greatly astonished seeing two men killed so 
instantaneously, notwithstanding they were provided with arrow- 
proof armor, woven with cotton thread and wood; this frightened 
them very much. Whilst I was reloading, one of my companions 
in the bush fired a shot which so astonished them anew, seeing their 
chiefs slain, they lost courage, took to flight and abandoned the 
field and their fort, hiding themselves in the depths of the forest, 
whither pursuing them, I killed some others. Our savages also 
killed several of them and took ten or twelve prisoners. The rest 
carried off the wounded. Fifteen or sixteen of ours were wounded 
by arrows; they were promptly cured. 

After having gained the victory, they amused themselves plunder- 
ing Indian corn and meal from the enemy; also their arms which 
they threw away in order to run better. And having feasted, danced 
and sung, we returned three hours afterward with the prisoners. 

The place where this battle was fought is in forty-three degrees, 
some minutes latitude, and I named it Lake Champlain. 



Chapter III 
Journal of Arent Van Curler 

CONNECTED with the early history of the colony or 
province of New York, the names of three men 
stand out bold and clear for their honesty, energy, 
and kindly treatment of the Iroquois Indians, 
namely : 

Arent Van Curler, from 1634 to the time of his death by 
the overturning of a boat during a storm on Lake Champlain 
in 1667, and who was held in such high esteem by the Mo- 
hawks that they used his name when addressing the governors 
of New York and called them " Brother Corlear, " a fitting 
tribute to him whom they called " good friend." 

Peter Schuyler and Sir William Johnson were the two other 
men referred to. Peter Schuyler seems to have gained the 
good will of the Indians to the extent that they called him 
Quiddar," which was as near as they could pronounce the 
word Peter, as the labials /, b, m, are not to be found in their 
language. He was the first mayor of Albany, and afterward 
acting governor of New York for a short period. Like Van 
Curler, he had unbounded influence over the Indians, by whom 
he was greatly admired. 

Sir William Johnson, of our own section of the Mohawk 
Valley, seems to have succeeded Van Curler and Schuyler in 
the affections of the Mohawks, and from 1738 until the time 
of his death at Johnstown, in 1774, used his power to the 
benefit of the colonists of the Mohawk Valley, and to the 

19 



20 The Mohawk Valley 

defeat of the Canadian French and Indians. But at this time 
it is of Van Curler that we would speak. Professor Pearson 
says: 

The acknowledged leader of the little colony at Schenectady, in 
1662, was Arent Van Curler. He came over in 1630, as superin- 
tendent of the Colonic Rensselaerswyck, and continued in office 
until 1646, besides acting as colonial secretary. In 1643 he mar- 
ried Antonia Slaagboom, widow of Jonas Bronk, and soon after 
settled on the " Flatts " above Fort Orange [Albany]. Here he 
remained until the spring of 1662, when he took up his residence at 
Schenectady, where he remained directing and furthering the 
interests of the settlers until his unfortunate death. 

While yet living in Albany, in 1642, he heard that a Jesuit 
priest named Isaac Jogues was being shamefully treated by 
the Mohawks and threatened with death, and on a mission of 
mercy he penetrated the Mohawk country to the first Castle, 
and succeeded in saving the life of Father Jogues for the time 
being, but could not procure the release of the prisoner. 
Father Jogues afterward escaped and returned to France, 
where he remained until 1643, when he returned to Canada, 
and in 1646 to the Mohawk country, to meet a shameful death 
by the hands of the Indians, at Os-se-ru-e-non, October 18, 
1646. 

It was after Van Curler returned from his mission of 
mercy, in 1642, that he wrote to Killian Van Rensselaer, 
the Patroon, in Amsterdam, Holland, that " a half day's 
journey from the Colonic, on the Mohawk River, there 
lies the most beautiful land that the eye of man ever be- 
held." It was on this land that in 1662 he settled the 
colony of Schenectady. It has been thought that his journey 
of 1642 was his first advent into the Mohawk's country; but 
recent events have brought to light a diary of a journey he 
made through this locality as early as 1634, and it ante- 
dates all other records of the Mohawk Valley, between 



Journal of Arent Van Curler 21 

Schenectady and Oneida. In the Iiuicpouient of October 3, 
1895, we find the following: 

CORLEAR AND HIS JOURNEY OF 1634. 

A Great Discovery in New York History. 

The Oldest Record of the Dutch Period. 

A Notable Visit to the Mohawk Indians. 

By General James Grant Wilson. 

The original journal of an expedition to the country of Mohawks 
and Sennekens [this should read Oneidas], made in 1634-35,57 Arent 
Van Curler — or Corlear, according to the pronunciation of the name 
in English — is now before the writer. It consists of thirty-two well- 
preserved pages of foolscap, which have lain perdu in a Dutch 
garret for two hundred and sixty years. It is of great historical 
value, antedating as it does any existing document relating to the 
history of New Netherland, and coming from the pen of one of the 
leading actors in the early annals of the colony. 

[The miles spoken of in this journal are Dutch miles, and 
were equal to about three English miles.] 

This diary records that Van Curler, with two other white 
men and five Maquaase Indians, as guides, left Fort Orange 
December 11, 1634, 

travelling mostly northwest about eight miles, and arrived at half- 
past twelve in the evening, at a hunter's little cabin, where we slept 
for the night, near the stream that runs into their [Mohawks'] land, 
and of the name of Vyoge (?). The land is most full of oak trees, 
and the flat land is abundant. The stream runs into their land 
near their [Mohawks'] Castle, but cannot be navigated up stream, 
on account of the heavy current. 

Dec. 12. — At three o'clock, before daylight, we proceeded 
again, and the savages that went with us would have left us there 
secretly, if I had not perceived that their dogs had eaten our bread 
and cheese. So we had to be contented with dry bread on which 
to travel; and after going for an hour we came to the branch 
[Mohawk River] that runs into our river, and passed the Maquas 
villages, where the ice drifted very fast. Jeronimus crossed first. 



22 The Mohawk Valley 

with one savage in a canoe made of the bark of trees, because there 
was only room for two; after that Willem and I went over; and it 
was so dark that we could not see each other if we did not come 
close together. It was not without danger. 

When all of us had crossed we went another mile and a half and 
came to a hunter's cabin, which we entered to eat some venison, and 
hastened further, and after another half mile we saw some Indians 
approaching, and as soon as they saw us they ran off and threw their 
sacks and bags away, and fled down a valley behind the underwood, 
so that we could not see them. We looked at their goods and bags, 
but took only a piece of bread. It was baked with beans, and we 
ate it. We went further, and mostly along the aforesaid kil [Mo- 
hawk River] that ran swiftly. In this kil there are a good many 
islands, and on the sides upward of 500 or 600 morgens of flat land. 
Yes, I think even more. And after we had been marching about 
eleven miles we arrived at one o'clock in the evening, half a mile 
from the first Castle, at a little house. We found only Indian 
women inside. We should have gone further, but I could hardly 
move my feet because of the rough road, so we slept there. It was 
very cold, with northerly wind. 

Dec. 13th. — In the morning we went together to the Castle over 
the ice that during the night had frozen on the kil, and, after going 
half a mile, we arrived in their first Castle, which is built on a high 
mountain [hill]. There stood but thirty-six houses, in rows like 
streets, so that we could pass nicely. The houses are made and 
covered with bark of trees, and mostly are flat at the top. Some 
are one hundred, ninety, or eighty paces long, and twenty-two and 
twenty-three feet high. There were some inside doors of hewn 
boards, furnished with iron hinges. In some houses we saw different 
kinds of iron chains, harrow irons, iron hoops, nails — all probably 
stolen somewhere. Most of the people were out hunting deer and 
bear. The houses were full of corn that they lay in store, and we 
saw maize; yes, in some of the houses, more than three hundred 
bushels. 

They make barrels and canoes of the bark of trees, and sew with 
bark as well. We had a good many pumpkins cooked and baked, 
that they called anansira. None of the chiefs were at home, but 
the principal chief is named Adriochten. He lived a quarter of a 
mile from the fort in a small house, because a good many savages in 
this Castle died of smallpox. I sent him a message to come and see 



Journal of Arent Van Curler 23 

us, which he promptly did; he came and bid me welcome, and said 
that he wanted us very much to come with him. We should have 
done so, but when already on the way another chief called us and 
so we went to the Castle again. 

This one had a big fire lighted, and a fat turkey cooked, which 
we ate. He gave us two bearskins to sleep upon, and presented me 
with three beaver skins. In the evening William Tomassen, whose 
legs were swollen from the march, had a few cuts made witli a knife 
therein, and after that had them rubbed with bear's grease. We 
slept in this house, ate heartily of pumpkins, bear's meat and veni- 
son, so that we were not hungry; but were treated as well as they 
could possibly do. We hope that all will succeed well. 

They stayed at this castle three days, or until December 
l6th, when they resumed their journey, 

Dec. i6th. — After midday, a famous hunter came here, named 
Sickarus, who wanted very much that we should go with him to his 
Castle. He offered to carry our goods, and to let us sleep and 
remain in his house as long as we liked; and because he was offering 
us so much I gave him a knife and two awls as a present, and to the 
chief in whose house we had been, I presented a knife and a pair of 
scissors; and then we took our departure from this Castle, named 
Onekagoncka, and after going another half mile over the ice, we 
saw a village with only six houses, of the name Canowarode; but 
we did not enter it, because it was not worth while; and after 
another half mile we passed again a village where twelve houses 
stood. It was named Senatsycrosy. Like the others, it was not 
worth while entering, and after another mile, or mile and a half, we 
passed by great stretches of flat land and came into this Castle, 
Medashet, about two o'clock in the evening. I did not see much 
beside a good many graves. This Castle is named Canagere. It is 
built on a hill without any palisades or any defense. We found only 
seven men at home, beside a party of old women and children. 
The chiefs of this Castle, named Tonnosatton and Tamwerot, were 
hunting, so we slept in the house of Sickarus, as he had promised 
us; and we counted in his house one hundred pieces of salable 
beaver skins that he captured with his own dogs. 

Van Curler continued his journey to the Sinneken (Onei- 
das) where he arrived on December 30th, and remained with 



24 The Mohawk Valley 

the Indians until the 12th of January, 1635, when he took his 
departure for Fort Orange, following the same route he had 
travelled in his outward journey, and arrived at Onekagoncka, 
the first castle, at sunset, January igth. 

January 20th in the morning, before daylight, Jeronimus sold 
his coat for four beaver skins. We departed at one hour before 
daylight, and after marching by guess two miles, the savages pointed 
to a high mountain [hill] where their Castle stood nine years before. 
They had been driven out by the Mahicans [Mohicans] and after a 
time they did not want to live there. 

On January 21st the party reached Fort Orange. This 
ends the journal. At this time I wish to speak of his journey 
of December nth, 12th, 13th, 14th, and i6th, or of that por- 
tion of the journey that brought him in the vicinity of the 
present city of Amsterdam. It is conceded by good authority 
that the stream he crossed, which was named " Vyoge " 
(probably Oioghi, which was the Indian name for river), was 
the Mohawk River and that he crossed to the north side of the 
Mohawk (the kil that ran so swiftly) on December 12th, west 
of Schenectady. On the morning of December 13th he re- 
crossed to the south side, over the ice, and after going a half 
mile arrived at the castle of Onekagoncka, which was situated 
on a high hill, and whose chief's name was Adriochten. 

It was this name, Adriochten, that suggested the possi- 
bility of Onekagoncka having been located a short distance 
below Amsterdam, instead of at Auriesville as suggested by 
some of the historians of the valley. 

In Pearson's Schenectady Patent we find record of a deed of 
land given by the Mohawks, December 16, 1686, to Hendrick 
Cuyler, of Albany, which is described as " a piece of land 
situate mostly on the north side of the Mohawk, Adriutha or 
Adriuche, above Schenectady, beginning on the north side of 
the river from a white oak tree that is marked with a wolf 



Journal of Arent Van Curler 27 

standing on the west side of a creek (Lewis), to a beech tree, 
also marked with a wolf, standing on the east side of a small kill 
or creek (Eva's Kill), and thence over the river on the south 
side from a great black oak tree, which is also marked with 
a wolf, together with all the small islands, or banks that lie 
within said limits, to an old oak tree marked with a bear, 
wolf and turtle (the arms of the three clans of the Mohawks)." 
The property described as on the north side is the old Groot 
place, now in possession of Francis Morris, and that on the 
south side is part of the settlement now called Kline. 

Having in mind the similarity of the names Adriochten and 
Adriuche, or Adriutha, I made strict inquiry among the old 
settlers in the vicinity of Kline, and found traditions of Indian 
occupation, and also found that arrowheads and hatchets had 
been found in the fields and woods. Also a well authenti- 
cated account of Indian remains, together with a pipe and 
other articles having been unearthed in this locality, between 
the canal and the railroad, during the construction of the 
West Shore Railroad. 

Inquiring of Mr. Oliver S. Kline, whose ancestors have 
lived in that vicinity for about a century, he informed me that 
on an elevation of land on the homestead farm, about one 
hundred and fifty feet above the river, and in a field that was 
covered with woods in his boyhood, had been a clearing of 
about three or four acres, and in this clearing were several 
holes about four feet deep and perhaps about three feet wide 
and six feet long. (These holes were undoubtedly corn pits, 
and were used by the Indians as storehouses for their grain in 
winter.) Between this clearing and the edge of the hill that 
slopes to the flats below on the river side were to be found 
crystals of flint, attached to much rock, that appeared above 
the surface of the sod in many places, also chips of flint in the 
earth near the rocks. With this valuable information I visited 



28 The Mohawk Valley 

this field, of about twenty acres, and found a place, which, 
with my limited knowledge of Indian sites, seemed to have 
been an ideal place for an Indian stronghold. 

The plateau, which I have said had an elevation of about 
one hundred and fifty feet, was protected on the west and 
south by a deep ravine whose steep banks were not very 
easy to ascend, and the bed of a creek that at some seasons 
of the year and during heavy rainstorms becomes a short- 
lived torrent. Two ever-flowing springs are located in this 
ravine and one on the slope towards the river, and an ex- 
tensive flat and islands. About a mile west of this point 
is the Covvilligan Creek, which runs into the Mohawk River. 

Gen. John S. Clark informs me that the word Canowaroda 
probably signifies place of canoes from Canowha, canoes, and 
that the Indians were in the habit of placing their canoes at 
some nearby creek for safe-keeping. 

Being in possession of this information, and assuming that 
Canowaroda — one-half Dutch mile from Onekagoncka — was 
located at Cowilligan Creek, I proceeded to search for further 
information in regard to Onekagoncka. From the fact that 
Van Curler, on December 12th, speaks of travelling eleven 
(Dutch) miles, which would be thirty-three English miles, I 
assume that he meant that he had travelled eleven Dutch or 
thirty-three English miles from Fort Orange (Albany). As 
the average rate for his whole journey of twelve days' travel 
was about ten English miles, he could not in one day travel 
thirty-three English miles over that part of his journey that 
he describes as being the most difficult. As the distance 
from Albany to Amsterdam by railroad is thirty-three miles, 
and to Kline about thirty miles, it seems to me that we 
should look for the ancient site of Onekagoncka on the south 
side of the Mohawk River and on a hill near Kline. 

A journey to the State Library, and an examination of the 



Journal of Arent Van Curler 29 

Vanderdonk map, reveals the fact that Vanderdonk located 
Carenay, an Indian village of his time (1656) on the bank of 
the Mohawk River, and directly north of a small lake or pond. 

(" Vanderdonk resided at Fort Orange from 1641 to 1646. 
The material for this map was of about the period of 1635, 
and may have been the map of Lacrock (Lacrois) who accom- 
panied Van Curler." — Gen. J. S. Clark.) 

On the Amsterdam section of the topographical map of the 
State of New York, we find the pond at Mariaville to lie directly 
south of Kline, and the only lake or pond in that section of the 
country. Most historians concede that the Carenay of the 
Vanderdonk map, 1656, and Onekagoncka of Van Curler's jour- 
nal, 1834-35, are only different names for the same castle site. 

[" Previous to 1642 the village had been removed to near 
Schoharie Creek, and became the Osseruenon, of Isaac Jogues, 
1642, and where he suffered death in 1646. The sites of In- 
dian villages were changed frequently, seldom remaining more 
than ten years in the same place, and frequently not more 
than six." — J. S. Clark,] 

Van Curler did not enter Canowaroda, but after going an- 
other half-mile he passed a village named Senatsycrosy, with- 
out entering. And after another mile, or mile and a half, they 
passed by great stretches of flat land, and came to a castle 
which he calls Wetdashet ; and immediately after he says: 
"' This Castle is named Canagere." " In this Castle are 16 
houses 50, 60, 70, or 80 paces long." 

December 20th we took our departure from the second Castle, 
and after inarching a mile — came to a stream that we had to pass. 
This stream ran very fast, besides big flakes of ice came drifting. 
We were wet up to above our waists. 

This would seem to be a very good description of the mouth 
of the Schoharie Creek, and that the site of Canagere must 
be looked for two or three English miles east of said creek. 



30 The Mohawk Valley 

After passing the creek they travelled about a half-mile 
(Dutch) and came to the third castle, named Sohanidisse, on 
the top of a very high hill. This would seem to be the Scha- 
natissa of Vanderdonk. 

I do not feel competent, from my limited knowledge of 
the Indian villages, formerly located in the western part of the 
county of Montgomery, to follow Van Curler in his journey 
west of this immediate locality, and therefore will confine my 
researches to this vicinity, and wait for the acceptance or re- 
jection of these conclusions by others who are interested in 
Indian history. 

On the return journey of Van Curler and party, when they 
had travelled by guess (?) two miles, his guide pointed to a 
high mountain (?) where their castle stood nine years before, 
or in 1625, when they were driven out by the Mohicans. They 
were undoubtedly travelling on the south side of the river 
where the high hills to the south could not be seen until they 
were in the vicinity of Pattersonville, where the high country 
called Yantaputchaberg may be seen to the southeast. As the 
range is very long, and of nearly uniform height, he would be 
imparting very indefinite information. The hill at Kinaqua- 
rone on the north, however, and the high hill to the east of it, 
are said to be rich in Indian relics, the highest point of the 
eastern hill in particular; and as it is situated about five Eng- 
lish miles east of the supposed site of Onekagoncka, Carenay, 
etc., it is very probably the site of the ancient village de- 
stroyed by the Mohicans. 

General J. S. Clark, in a letter dated Sept. 5, 1S98, saysr 
' ' There is no doubt whatever as to the site described by you ; it 
is certainly the Carenay of the earliest maps, and the Onekagon- 
cka of Van Curler. Carenay was indicated directly north of a 
small lake or pond, and there is no other than Maria Pond or 
Featherstonhaugh Lake anywhere in that neighborhood." 



Journal of Arent Van Curler 



03 



A theory of Van Curler's journey is as follows: Van Curler 
called the first castle of the Mohawks Onekagoncka, in 1634- 
35. In 1642 he again visited the Jirst castle on a mission of 
mercy to rescue Jogues from death. He does not viake 
mention of any change in the site which was near extensive flat 
lands and fertile islands. The Mohicans had been driven to 
Connecticut, and as the Mohawks were always the aggressors 
when at war with the French and Indians, they at least had no 
great fear of an attack from them at the eastern end of the 
Iroquois Confederacy. In addition to the above, they were 
near, and in communication with, the traders at Fort Orange. 

In 1642 and 1643 Isaac Jogues was a captive at the castle, 
which he names Osseruenon ; and again in 1646, when, as he 
says, he was led naked to Gandawague, the place of his for- 
mer captivity. He also says that the name of the place was 
changed from Osseruenon to Oneongoure, evidently showing 
that the names of the Indian castles changed frequently, and 
not the sites. On the Vanderdonk map of 1656, made from 
data obtained from Van Curler, " with whom he resided from 
164 1 to 1646," is an Indian castle called Carenay, located di- 
rectly north of a pond (Mariaville Pond), and near the Mohawk 
River, which corresponds with the recently discovered site of 
Onekagoncka at Kline, or Adriuche. If Vanderdonk obtained 
his information of the Indian sites from Van Curler in 1656, it 
is evident that the first castle was then located at Kline and 
was known by the following names at the periods mentioned : 

Onekagoncka, 1634-35, Van Curler. 

Onekagoncke, 1642, Van Curler. 

Osseruenon, 1642, Jogues. 

Oneougoure, 1646, Jogues. 

Carenay, 1656, Vanderdonk. 

Adriuche, 1686, Hendric Cuyler. 

Kline, 1898, W. M. R. 
3 



34 The Mohawk Valley 

In 1666 two expeditions of French and Indians visited the 
Mohawk country, in February and in September. In Sep- 
tember, 1666, they destroyed all three of the Mohawk castles, 
together with their stores of provisions. It was probably at 
this time that the Mohawks moved to the flats at Fort Hunter 
and Auriesville, and beyond, as they had good reasons for 
changing their location. Vanderdonk says: "The Indian 
villages changed their location quite frequently; but their 
castles or fortified places were occupied a longtime," or until 
they were destroyed by fire or by an enemy. But it is quite 
evident from the foregoing list that the names of the castles 
were frequently changed, and from this circumstance a confu- 
sion of location of sites has probably arisen. 

Parkman, in speaking of Labatie's account of the murder 
of Isaac Jogues, says: " He (Labatie) was the interpreter at 
Fort Orange, and being near the scene of the murder, took 
pains to learn the facts." This would indicate that Osseuru- 
non in 1646 was not far from Fort Orange. 

It is generally conceded that the words Gandawaga, Caha- 
niaga, and Kanyea-geh are the same, and that their definition 
is not " At the rapids," but " The people of the flint." Why 
•' of the flint ? " 

I am aware that the above theory does not conform to pre- 
conceived ideas of Indian sites that have always, more or less, 
been mere conjecture, built around some vague statements 
that in some cases admit of different interpretation; but it is 
the theory of a student in Indian history, after a careful re- 
search of available material, and without being hampered by 
the haze of preconceived theories. 

The Indian history of the Mohawk Valley is very interest- 
ing; but the section between Fort Hunter and Hoffmans has 
received scant consideration from local historians, wliose atten- 
tion has been directed to their immediate locality, and theories 



Journal of Arent Van Curler Z7 

built up from the later occupation of the valley, which did not 
extend below Fort Hunter to any great extent. 

It will be noticed that Van Curler gives two names to the 
second Castle, located one Dutch mile east of a large stream, 
" where the flakes of ice drifted fast " (Schoharie Creek). 
Wetdashet and Canagere, going to confirm the fact that the 
names of the castles were frequently changed. 

In locating castle sites, one thing should be taken into 
consideration, and that is that the Mohawks were, in a meas- 
ure, an agricultural people, as they raised corn, beans, pump- 
kins, and tobacco in such quantities that they stored it for 
winter use. The fertile flats of the Mohawk are not evenly 
distributed along the river. The bottom lands are quite wide, 
all the way from Schenectady, on both sides of the river, par- 
ticularly so on the south side. At Adriuche, or Cranesville, 
are fertile flats and large islands, and again at Fort Hunter, 
Auriesville, Fonda, and so on. The river from Cranesville 
to Schenectady was the home of a large body of Mohawks, 
owing to the fertile flats situated along the river bottom, and 
from the fact that navigation practically ended there, and the 
" carry " over the trail to Albany began. Probably the reader 
is aware that the French and Indians always spoke of being in 
the Mohawk country when they arrived at the upper or south- 
ern end of Lake Champlain and Lake George. Saratoga Lake 
and vicinity were frequently visited by Mohawk hunting and 
fishing parties, and all Indian trails from the north, of early 
date, seem to lead to points between HofTmans and Albany. 
Taking all these things into consideration, I am inclined to 
think that prehistoric sites of Indian castles should be sought 
for between Sandsea or Zandige Creek, and the Schoharie 
River. 

Van Curler's journal seems to indicate that one Dutch mile 
east from Schoharie River the second Castle of the Mohawks 



33 The Mohawk Valley 

was situated. Some very interesting prehistoric remains and 
embankments and evidences of Indian occupation have been 
found on the fiats and hills at the Wemple place, near Fort 
Hunter. 

One of the earliest and most tragic events that is recorded, 
of the advent of the Jesuit priests in the Mohawk Valley, 
occurred in this locality, the massacre of Jogues and Goupil. 

In all the early expeditions of France and Spain to the 
coast of America, the priest seems to have been a very neces- 
sary part of the equipment. Some of them were from the order 
of the Franciscans or Recolects, and, later, from the Society of 
Jesus, or Jesuits, as the disciples of St. Ignatius Loyola are 
called. They were found with Cortez in Mexico, Ponce de 
Leon, Menendes, Narvaez, and the Frenchman, Jean Ribault, 
in Florida, and Hernando de Soto on the Mississippi. Also 
with Jacques Cartier when he discovered the river St. Law- 
rence, in 1535, at which time he visited the Indian villages 
Stadacone, afterward the site of Quebec, and Hochelaga, 
named by Cartier Mont Royal, from the mountain in the rear 
of the Indian x'illage, and now known as Montreal. At an 
early period in the history of Montreal it was also called Ville 
Marie. They came again with Champlain in 1603, also in 1609. 
But among the first of the long lines of French Jesuits who 
made the conversion of the Indians their life-work, were 
Fathers Baird and Masse, in 1610, who were joined in 161 3 by 
Father Quentin and Brother du Thet, and in 1625 by Charles 
Lalemant and Jean de Brebeuf. 

In this age we look with wonder upon the records of the 
Jesuits of that period and marvel at the zeal and self-sacrific- 
ing spirit of those pioneers of the Roman Catholic Church in 
America. Parkman, in speaking of the Jesuits of Canada, 
says: " No religious order has ever united in itself so much to 
be admired and so much to be detested." " A fervor more 



Journal of Arent Van Curler 39 

intense, a self-abnegation more complete, a self-devotion more 
constant and enduring, will scarcely find its record on the 
page of human histor3^" " In all the copious records of this 
period, not a line gives occasion to suspect that one of this 
loyal band flinched or hesitated." The fate of Jean de 
Brebeuf will illustrate the perils with which they were beset, 
the ferocity of the Mohawk warriors, and their hatred of the 
French and the " black-robed " Jesuits. 

With your permission I will quote from Parkman's JcsKi/s 
in North Avicrica, to illustrate the fate of many of these de- 
voted priests. Brebeuf and Lalemant were captured by the 
Mohawks at the final destruction of the Huron nation on the 
shores of Lake Huron in 1649. Parkman says: 

On the sixteenth of March (1649) — the day when the two priests 
were captured — Brebeuf was led apart, and bound to a stake. He 
seemed more concerned for his captive converts than for himself, 
and addressed them in a loud voice, exhorting them to suffer 
patiently, and promising heaven as their reward. The Iroquois, 
incensed, scorched him from head to foot, to silence him; where- 
upon, in the tone of a master, he threatened them with everlasting 
flames for persecuting the worshippers of God. As he continued to 
speak with voice and countenance unchanged, they cut away his 
lower lip and thrust a red-hot iron down his throat. He still held 
his tall muscular form erect and defiant, with no sign or sound of 
pain; and they tried another means to overcome him. They led 
out Lalemant, that Brebeuf might see him tortured. They had 
tied strips of bark, smeared with pitch, about his naked limbs. 
When he saw the condition of Brebeuf he could not hide his agita- 
tion, and threw himself at the feet of his Superior, upon which the 
Iroquois seized him, made him fast to a stake and set fire to the 
bark that enveloped him. As the flame rose, he threw his arms 
upward with a shriek of supplication to heaven. Next they hung 
around Brebeuf 's neck a collar made of hatchets heated red-hot; 
but the indomitable priest stood like a rock. A kettle was slung, 
and the water boiled and poured slowly on the heads of the two 
missionaries. " We baptize you," they cried, " that you may be 
happy in heaven, for nobody can be saved without a good baptism." 



40 The Mohawk Valley 

Brebeuf would not flinch, and in rage, they cut strips of flesh from 
his limbs and devoured them before his eyes. Others called out to 
him, " you told us that the more one suffers on earth, the happier 
he is in heaven." After a succession of other revolting tortures, 
they scalped him; when, seeing him nearly dead, they laid open his 
breast and came in a crowd to drink the blood of so valiant an 
enemy, thinking to imbibe with it some portion of his courage. A 
chief then tore out his heart and devoured it. 

Thus died Jean de Brebeuf, the founder of the Huron mis- 
sion, its truest hero, and its greatest martyr. It is said that 
he was a noble specimen of manhood, being of great size and 
strength, and with noble features, better fitted to be a knight 
than a priest. 

As Brebeuf was a martyr of the Huron mission, so Isaac 
Jogues may be called the martyr of the mission to the Mo- 
hawks. On the bank of the Mohawk, at the little hamlet of 
Auriesville, the society of which he was a member has erected 
a shrine, as a tribute to the memory of that noble, self-sacrific- 
ing priest. In this age we may srnile at his belief, and at some 
of his methods; but we cannot help admiring him for his strict 
obedience to the dictates of his conscience, and his humility 
and heroism in the discharge of his duties. 

It is said that he was born at Orleans, of a worthy family, 
January lo, 1607, and at an early age entered the college of 
the Jesuits, at his native place, and at the time he was or- 
dained priest, in 1636, he was an exceedingly well-educated 
man. He accompanied a fleet that sailed for Canada in April, 
1636, arrived at Quebec in July of the same year, and was 
almost immediately assigned to one of the missions in the 
country of the Hurons, being one of the companions of Father 
Brebeuf, spoken of above. For five years he labored among 
those savages, suffering all manner of hardships and privations 
among the Hurons, Tobacco Indians, Ottawas, and Chippe- 
was (Ojibwas) of northern Canada. Returning to the Huron 



Journal of Arent Van Curler 41 

country, from Quebec, in 1642, he was captured by a war 
party of Agniers. The Agniers, or Mohawks, were located 
near the Dutch post of Rensselaerwyck (the Albany of the 
present time). They were noted for their deadly hatred of the 
French and the apostles of the Catholic faith, and were contin- 
ually at war with the Hurons and Algonquins of Canada. In 
parties of from ten to a hundred, they would leave their vil- 
lages on the Mohawk and descend Lake Champlain and the 
river Richelieu to lay in ambush on the banks of the St. Law- 
rence and attack passing boats, follow the trails of travellers 
or hunters, or break upon unguarded camps at midnight, and 
often in large parties attack the palisaded villages of their en- 
emies. The account of the capture of Father Jogues, Rene 
Goupil, and Couture, is taken from the Relations of the Jesuits: 

In the early morning of the second of August, 1642, twelve 
Huron canoes were moving slowly along the northern shore of the 
expansion of the St. Lawrence, known as Lake St. Peter, west of 
Three Rivers. There were on board about forty persons, including 
four Frenchmen. Jogues sat in one of the leading canoes. His 
oval face and the delicate mold of features indicated a modest, 
thoughtful, refined nature. He was constitutionally timid, with a 
sensitive conscience and great religious susceptibilities. He was 
a finished scholar, and might have gained a literary reputation; but 
lie had chosen another career, and one for which he seemed but 
little fitted. 

Physically, however, he was well matched with his work; for 
though his frame was light, he was so active that none of the Indians 
could surpass him in running. In stature he was the opposite to 
the majestic Brebeuf. 

With him were two young men, Rene Goupil and Guillaume 
Couture — donnes of the mission — that is to say, laymen, who, with- 
out pay, had attached themselves to the services of the Jesuits. 
Goupil was formerly a Jesuit novitiate at Paris, but while in Quebec 
had been an attendant at the hospital. His surgical skill was of 
great help to Jogues in case of sickness among the savages. Cout- 
ure was also a man of intelligence and vigor. 



42 The Mohawk Valley 

The twelve canoes had reached the western end of Lake 
St. Peter, when from the forests on the bank was heard the 
dreaded war cry of the Mohawks, mingled with the reports of 
guns and the whistling of bullets, and several Iroquois canoes, 
filled with warriors, bore down upon Jogues and his com- 
panions. The Hurons were seized with a shameful panic, and 
leaving canoes, baggage, and weapons, fled into the woods, 
but not soon enough to prevent many being either killed or 
captured. Jogues and Couture sprang into the bulrushes, and 
could have escaped ; but seeing Goupil in the clutches of the 
Mohawks, they came out of their hiding-place and gave them- 
selves up to their astonished victors, rather than desert a 
friend. 

As Couture advanced, five Iroquois sprang forward to meet him, 
and one of them snapped his gun at his breast, but missed fire. In 
his confusion and excitement, Couture fired his own piece and laid 
the savage, who was a chief, dead. The remaining four sprang 
upon him, tore off his clothing, beat him with clubs and with their 
fists, and finally tore out his fingernails with their teeth, gnawing his 
fingers with the fury of famished dogs, and thrust a sword through 
the offending hand that had fired the shot. Jogues broke away from 
his guards, and rushed to the assistance of his friend. He was 
dragged away and beaten with war-clubs until he was senseless. 
Goupil was also subjected to the same treatment and his hands and 
those of Jogues were badly lacerated by the teeth of the savages. 

The Iroquois started at last, ascending the Richelieu and 
entered Lake Champlain. On the eighth day they ascertained 
that about two hundred Iroquois (Mohawks) were encamped 
on an island in the lake, about one day's distance away. 
Reaching the island, the captives were forced to run the 
gauntlet, and were tortured in various ways. 

Jogues, the last of the line, fell drenched in blood and half 
dead, but was forced to resume the journey the next morning, 
and on the loth of August reached Lake George, four days' 



Journal of Arent Van Curler 43 

march from the first Mohawk Castle, The hardships of this 
march were rendered even more intense by the want of food. 
The nth of August they crossed the upper Hudson, which 
they called Oiogue (the river), and on August 15th reached 
the end of their journey. 

In a letter to the Provincial of the Jesuits, at Paris, Jogues 
says: 

On the eve of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, about 3 
o'clock, we reached the bank of the second river (Mohawk), about 
three-quarters of a mile from their village called Os-se-ru-e-non. 
Both banks were filled with Iroquois, who received us with clubs, 
fists and stones. When satisfied with their cruelty, which we thus 
received by the river side, they crossed the river and led us to their 
village on the top of the hill. At its entrance we met the youth of 
all that district awaiting us in line on each side of the road, all 
armed with clubs, 

and through this double row of savages the captives were led, 
single file, Couture in front; because he had killed a chief, 
after him some Huron captives, then Goupil, then the remain- 
ing Hurons, and at last Jogues. Some of the prisoners were 
killed, but the three Frenchmen managed to drag themselves 
through that line of torture, and were all placed on a high 
platform in the middle of the village. They were kept on this 
platform for three days, and were then led in triumph to the 
second castle, and afterward the third, suffering at each a repe- 
tition of the former cruelties. Jogues and Goupil were after- 
ward led back to the first castle, where they expected to be 
burned at the stake. Couture, according to custom, had been 
adopted into one of- the families and taken to the farthest 
town, named Ti-o-non-to-guen. 

About this time the Dutch of Rensselaerwyck, which was 
not forty miles from this town, having heard of the capture 
and torture of several Frenchmen, desired to interpose and 



44 The Mohawk Valley 

obtain their deliverance. On September i/th, Arendt Van 
Corlear, commandant of the fort, Jean Labatie, his interpreter, 
and Jacob Jansen of Amsterdam, went as ambassadors to the 
town of An-da-ga-ron, the second castle, and although they 
made flattering offers and a promise of two hundred dollars, 
they were unable to obtain the release of the prisoners.' 

One day, after they had been in the hands of the Mohawks 
about six weeks, Goupil attempted to make the sign of the 
cross on some children, but was warned that if he did any- 
thing of the kind he would be killed. Shortly after, Goupil, in 
placing his cap on the head of a child, attempted to make the 
sign of the cross on its forehead. The grandfather of the child 
detected him, and as Goupii left the cabin said to one of his 
nephews, a young buck just ready for the war-path: " Go kill 
that dog of a Frenchman; the Hollanders tell us the sign he 
has made is not good." The young brave was only too glad 
of the order, and watched to catch Goupil outside of the pali- 
sade when he would be at liberty to kill him. 

Shortly after, as the two captives were returning from, the 
forest, saying their rosary, they met two Mohawks near the 
gate. One of them raised a tomahawk and struck it into 
the head of Goupil, who fell on his face. Jogues fell on his 
knees and uncovering his head awaited the same fate, but the 
Indians told him he had nothing to fear, for he belonged to an- 
other family.^ The body of Rene Goupil was dragged through 
the village by the children to a ravine at a considerable dis- 
tance, where they flung it in. The next day Jogues instituted 
a search for the body in the ravine, at the bottom of which 
ran a torrent. Here Jogues, with the help of an old Indian, 
his master, found it stripped naked and gnawed by dogs. He 

' A'i/atio//s of the Jesuits state that one of tlie men was on horseback — probably 
Van Corlear. 

^ The Mohawks were in the habit of giving their prisoners to different families. 



Journal of Arent Van Curler 45 

dragged it into the water and covered it with stones to hide it 
and save it from further mutilation, intending to return the 
following day and bury it. He was not able to return until two 
days after, when he found the stream a rolling, turbulent 
flood, from a recent storm, and the body nowhere to be seen. 
I quote his words from the Rc/atio/is, in a letter to the 
Provincial : 

I returned to the spot, I ascended the mount at the foot of which 
the torrent ran. I descended again and searched the woods on the 
opposite bank; my search was useless. In spite of the water, which 
came up to my waist, for it had rained all night, and in spite of the 
cold (as it was the first of October), I sounded with my feet and with 
my staff, to see if the current had not carried the corpse further 
along. The Indians, who are liars by nature, told me it had been 
carried down by the current to the river near by, which was untrue." 

They also told him that they had dragged it to the river 
three-quarters of a mile away, " which I did not know," be- 
cause no such river existed; they lied to him. It was some 
young Indians and not the torrent that had borne the body 
away. In the spring, when the snows were melting in the 
woods, he was told by some Mohawk children that the body 
was in the ravine in a lonely spot lower down the stream. 
There he found the scattered bones and hid them in the earth, 
hoping that a time would come Avhen he could give them 
Christian burial. 

Jogues remained with the Mohawks at Os-se-ru-e-non until 
July, 1643, when he went to a fishing-place on the Hudson 
about twenty miles below Fort Orange. Having learned of 
prisoners having been burned to death at Os-se-ru-e-non, dur- 
ing his absence, his conscience smote him because he had not 
been on hand to baptize them, and he urged the Indians to al- 
low him to return. Reaching Rensselaerwyck, he was advised 
by Megapolensis, the Dutch clerg\^man at that post, and 



46 The Mohawk Valley 

others not to return to the Mohawk Castle, as he would surely 
be killed. Taking their advice, and with their help, he 
secretly went aboard a vessel bound for Manhattan (New 
York), and from there was assisted to a passage on a ship 
bound for France. In 1644 he returned to Canada. 

In 1645 a treaty of peace was confirmed between the Iro- 
quois and the French and Algonquins after some reverses to 
the Iroquois on Lake Champlain, which treaty was broken by 
the western tribes. The Mohawks were becoming uneasy and 
it was felt by the governor, General Chevalier de Montmagny, 
that it would be policy to send an envoy of higher rank than 
Couture, the former ambassador, to win over the turbulent 
Mohawks. 

Jogues was chosen for the task; also to found a new mis- 
sion, which was named " The Mission of the Martyrs." 
Jogues for the past two years had been at Montreal, and as 
soon as he received his orders started for Three Rivers, which 
he left on May i6th with Mr. Bourdon and four Mohawk de- 
puties and two Algonquins as guides. Their route to the Mo- 
hawk country was up the St. Lawrence to the river Richelieu, 
and Lake Champlain and Lake George. It was on this jour- 
ney that, having reached Lake George on the eve of Corpus 
Christi, he named it Lac St. Sacrament, which name it pre- 
served until 1757, when Sir William Johnson christened it Lake 
George in honor of King George II. 

From Lake George, being short of food, they crossed over 
to Fish Creek, ' where the Indians catch a small fish like her- 
ring. " (Jogues) Borrowing canoes, June 4th, of the Iroquois, 
they descended the Hudson to Fort Orange. After two days' 
rest they continued their journey, and reached the first Mo- 
hawk town on the evening of June 7th, about one day's travel. 
He says: " We reached the first castle on the evening of June 
7th. Its name had been changed from Os-se-ru-e-non to On- 



Journal of Arent Van Curler 47 

e-ou-gou-re." Crowds came from the neighboring Indian vil- 
lages to gaze on the abused slave, who now came among them 
as an ambassador of power. A semblance of peace was 
patched up, but the old hatred of the French still burned sul- 
lenly, making the prospect of the future very ominous. 

Hardly had the business of the embassy been finished be- 
fore the Mohawks (probably the Wolves), urged them to de- 
part for fear some of the western tribes, who were already 
preparing for a predatory raid to the St. Lawrence, would lie 
in ambush and kill their Algonquin guides, if not the French- 
men themselves. Upon his departure, Jogues left a small 
chest containing his scanty outfit and a few religious articles, 
expecting to return soon to the valley and establish the " Mis- 
sion of the Martyrs " among the savage Mohawks. 

On the 24th of August he again set out for his dangerous 
post among the Iroquois (Mohawks). His only companions 
were a young Frenchman named Lalande, and three or four 
Hurons. On the way they met some Indians, who warned 
them not to continue their journey, as a change of feeling had 
taken place in the Mohawk towns and they would surely be 
killed if they persisted in going there. The Hurons, becoming 
alarmed, refused to go any farther, but Jogues and his young 
companion, Lalande, would not turn back. 

The reported change had taken place owing to the super- 
stitious ignorance of the Indians. The small box left by 
Jogues seemed mysterious to them and they imagined it to 
contain some secret charm. At this time a contagious disease 
was raging among them, and many of the Mohawks were dy- 
ing; besides, the caterpillars had destroyed nearly the whole 
harvest, and this they ascribed to the little box and the sor- 
ceries of the Jesuits. The trunk was thrown into the river un- 
opened, and they were ready to wreak vengeance on the 
supposed author of all their woes. A war party on the march 



48 The Mohawk Valley 

to Fort Richelieu came upon Father Jogues and Lalande two 
days' march from their village, and in fury fell upon them, 
stripped them of their clothes, beat them, and in triumph led 
them to the first castle. Jogues says: " I was led naked to 
Gandawague, the place of my former captivity." This place 
was variously called by Jogues, Os-se-ru-e-non, On-e-ou-gou-re, 
and Gan-da-wa-gue. Here they cut thin strips of flesh from the 
back and arms of Jogues, the crowd shouting, " You shall die 
to-morrow." Of the three great clans of the Mohawks, the Bear, 
the Tortoise, and the Wolf, the Bear chiefs were clamorous 
for his death, but the Wolves especially were more friendly to 
the captive. However, the Bears prevailed. Francis Parkman 
describes his death as follows; 

In the evening — it was the eighteenth of October — Jogues, 
smarting from his wounds and bruises, was sitting in one of the 
lodges, when an Indian entered and asked him to a feast. To 
refuse would have been an offense. He arose and followed the 
savage, who led him to the lodge of a bear chief. Jogues bent his 
head to enter, when another Indian, standing concealed within, at 
the side of the doorway, struck at him with a hatchet. An Iroquois, 
called by the French Le Berger, who seems to have followed in order 
to defend him, bravely held out his arm to ward off the blow, but 
the hatchet cut through it and sank into the missionary's brain. 
He fell at the feet of his murderer, who finished his work by hack- 
ing off his head. Lalande was left in suspense all night, and in the 
morning was killed in a similar manner. The bodies of the two 
Frenchmen were then thrown into the Mohawk, and their heads 
displayed on the points of the palisade which enclosed the town. 

Thus died Isaac Jogues, one of the purest examples of 
Roman Catholic virtue which this western continent has seen. 
Le Berger, who tried to save the priest's life, had at one time 
been taken prisoner and kindly treated by the French. He 
showed his gratitude by his unsuccessful attempts to defend 
the life of the French Jesuit. 



Chapter IV 
Schonowe or Schenectady 

THE Mohawk River practically ends at Cohoes, al- 
though its juncture with the Hudson, through its 
various deltas, is made at Cohoes, Waterford, and 
West Troy. The Mohawk Valley of the tourist, 
however, begins at Schenectady and ends at Rome, N. Y. 

It is supposed that Henry Hudson ascended the Hudson 
as far as the mouth of the Mohawk in the small boats of the 
Half Moon, and that the falls prevented further exploration in 
that direction. The Cohoes Falls at that period must have 
appeared grand and beautiful. At that point the Mohawk is 
more than one hundred yards wide and perfectly rock-ribbed 
on both sides. The fall is nearly seventy feet perpendicular, 
in addition to the turbulent rapids below. 

Before entering the Hudson the river is divided into four 
mouths by three rocky islands, Peobles, Van Schaicks, and 
Green Islands, and in those early days formed a scene both 
beautiful and picturesque. 

The earliest maps of the valley, made previous to the set- 
tlement of Schenectady in 1661-69, shows an Indian village 
at a bend in the Mohawk, about half-way between Schenec- 
tady and the Hudson River, called Nsarcane (Niskayuna), 
while Schenectady is designated by the word Schoo, and also 
by the term Flack-landt; the word Schoo being undoubtedly 
a contraction of the word Schonowe, " the gate." 

In Professor Pearson's very excellent article on the orighi 

49 



50 The Mohawk Valley 

of the word Schenectady we find that it was probably derived 
from the Indian word Schonowe or S'Gaun-ho-ha, meaning 
door or gate, and was first applied to the Indian village for- 
merly on the site of Albany, meaning the door or gate to the 
long house (Iroquois) or the Mohawk country. Afterwards it 
was applied to Schenectady as the Schonowe, or gate. Later, 
as the Indians retired westward before the advance of the 
white man, the same name was given to Tiononderoga (Fort 
Hunter) as being the gate or door to their country, and from 
it we have undoubtedly the name of Schoharie, being the real 
door or gate to the Mohawk country. 

This name, " Schonowe," becomes poetical when we re- 
flect upon a broader, grander application of the term, the 
" Gate." 

The Hudson and Mohawk valleys taken together are the 
avenue to the great West, although the early settlers did not 
realize it. 

First the Indian trail and canoes, then the bateaux and the 
stage-coach, and then, after long years of waiting, the Erie 
Canal, reaching from tidewater to the Great Lakes. Then the 
primitive railroad from Albany to Schenectady, Schenectady to 
Utica, and then on to Buffalo, Chicago, and so on and on un- 
til now the iron rails passing through our beautiful valley reach 
from ocean to ocean. 

And now we hear of the building of a ship canal in the 
bed of the Mohawk, and of ocean steamers and possibly ves- 
sels of war passing through the Mohawk Valley to the Great 
Lakes, in the near future. 

In the fifteenth century it was the desire of navigators of 
the then known world to reach India by sailing west, and it 
was with this object in view that the expeditions of Christo- 
pher Columbus, John and Sebastian Cabot, and others were 
fitted out. After the discovery of America, even up to the 




OLD ST. GEORGES CHURCH, SCHENECTADY, 1759 



51 



Schonowe or Schenectady 53 

voyage of Henry Hudson, the desire of navigators was to dis- 
cover the " northwest passage to India." 

When Henry Hudson entered the bay of New York and 
sailed up the broad river that bears his name, with its tide, he 
fondly hoped that he had at last found the " northwest pas- 
sage," little dreaming that a great continent three thousand 
miles wide lay between him and the Pacific Ocean. 

The Indians, with their limited knowledge, call the Mo- 
hawk Valley " Schonowe," the Gate. They little knew how 
truly it was named. 

Henry Hudson was right, however. With its two great 
railways, its Erie Canal, and the promise of a second Suez, 
with its millions of tons of merchandise, and myriads of tour- 
ists streaming across the continent to meet the steamers of the 
Pacific to Asia, the Mohawk Valley may well be called the 
northwest passage," the Gate to India. 

Every history of Schenectady begins with a quotation from 
the letter of Arent Van Curler to the Patroon, Killian Van 
Rensselaer, when, in 1642, he returned from his unsuccessful 
journey to Osseruenon to rescue Father Jogues: " dat 
Schoonste landt " that the eye of man ever beheld. 

Then we read of Van Curler's efforts to organize a small 
colony, and of the purchase of the " great flats " from the Mo- 
hawks in 1661, and its settlement in 1662, also of their troubles 
with the authorities at Fort Orange, who declined to survey 
their lands or to give them the right to trade with the Indi- 
ans, and the final adjustment of the dif^culty in 1664. 

We find that the settlement was successful from the begin- 
ning, and that in 1670 additional land was purchased from the 
Mohawks, making the township up and down the river, six- 
teen miles long, and eight miles wide, the western limit being 
the Kinaquarone, or Towereune hill at Hoffmans. 

The land west of the " great flats" was divided into five 



54 The Mohawk Valley 

flats, or farms, on the south side of the river, and eight flats on 
the north side, reaching up to and adjoining the present 
townships of Amsterdam and Florida. 

It is quite interesting to read the names of the original 
owners, as the names of their descendants may be found in 
nearly every town in the Mohawk Valley. 
South side of the river: 

First flat: Jaques Cor. Van Slyke. 

Second flat: Jacobus Peek and Isaac De Trieux. 

Third flat : Simon Mabie, Abraham N. Bratt. 

Fourth flat : Pieter Vrooman. 

Cowillegen, or Willow Flat: Pieter Van O'Linda, Chas. 
Williamse Van Coppernol. 

Flats on the north side : 

Claus Graven Hoek — Claus Andrise DeGraff. 

Maalwyck — Benjamin Roberts. 

Second flat: Petier Cornelis Viele. 

Third flat: Jan Janse Joncker. 

Fourth flat: Lewis Cobes and Johannes Kleyn. 

Fifth, or Wolfe Flat: Jasaias Swart. 

Sixth flat : Philip Philipse De Moer. 

Seventh flat: Carel Hanson Toll, Reyer Schermerhorn. 

The hardy first settlers saw perilous times from the very 
beginning, and must have been endowed with an abundance 
of Dutch grit and persistency to withstand and overcome the 
dangers and vicissitudes of the early years of their struggle for 
existence. For more than half a century the frontier town of 
the great West, and surrounded by the most warlike and ag- 
gressive of the aborigines of America, who were continually 
at war with their savage kindred and the French of Canada, 
this little band of frontiersmen lived in continual alarm, from 
their dusky neighbors and their neighbor's foes. Protected 
by a stockade of posts, built after the manner of the castles of 



Schonowe or Schenectady 57 

the Mohawks, which we would think inadequate protection 
against the wild beasts of the forests, they lived and thrived, 
and in time made firm friends of the fierce Mohawks, and 
thereby raised a human barrier against the white and red sav- 
ages of New France. 

We can imagine the consternation of these " Dutch Boers " 
(as Governor Courcelle called them) when one morning in Feb- 
ruary, 1666, a few Mohawk warriors appeared at the gate of 
their little palisaded village with the heads of four Frenchmen, 
and the information that an army of six hundred men, on 
snowshoes, was at their gates. This alarming news was sent 
in haste to Albany, and " the next day three of the principal 
inhabitants were sent to the commander of the troops. Gover- 
nor Courcelle, to inquire of his intention to bring a body of 
armed men into the dominions of his Majesty of Great Britain 
without acquainting the Governor of these parts with his 
designs." 

Governor Courcelle replied that he had come to seek and 
destroy his enemies, the Mohawks, without the intention of 
visiting the plantations, and that, indeed, this was the first that 
he had heard that the English were rulers instead of the Dutch. 

This expedition seems to have been the most foolhardy and 
abortive of the many raids of the French in the Mohawk 
Valley. 

Having suffered from recent incursions of the Mohawks, 
Governor Courcelle and M. de Tracey organized an expedition 
of retaliation, consisting of six hundred French and Canadian 
soldiers, and began their march to the Mohawks' country in 
mid-winter. Their route was through the Lake Champlain 
Valley, over the frozen lake, and with snow on the ground 
four feet deep. The soldiers were all provided with snow- 
shoes and the provisions were loaded on light sleds, drawn by 
dogs. The soldiers suffered greatly from cold, and through a 



58 The Mohawk Valley 

mistake of the guides found themselves, on February 9th, 
within two miles of Schenectady instead of the Mohawk 
castles. A party of Mohawk warriors appearing, Courcelle 
despatched sixty of his best fusileers after them. These 
soldiers were drawn into an ambush and eleven killed, a large 
number wounded, and the balance forced to retreat to the 
main bodj'. 

Although the Canadian Governor did not dare allow his 
soldiers inside of the stockade of the poor village, or, as he 
said, " within the smell of a chimney corner," he did not hesi- 
tate to ask that care be given to his wounded, half-starved 
soldiers, and that he be supplied with provisions for pay. 

The next day seven wounded Frenchmen were taken to 
the village, and after their wounds were carefully dressed, 
were sent on to Albany; while the " Dutch Boers " carried to 
their camps provisions, such as they had, and were well paid 
for them. 

The French, being refreshed and having a supply of pro- 
visions, put on a bold front and marched away in the direction 
of the Mohawk castles; but when well out of sight of the vil- 
lage, " with faces about and great silence and diligence re- 
turned towards Canada." 

In October of the same year Governor Courcelle and 
Tracey, with twelve hundred soldiers, again visited the Mo- 
hawks' country, and destroyed their castles and their crops, 
but did not succeed in killing any of the Indians, who, with 
their families had fled to the wooded hills. 

The Frontenac expedition of 1690, which resulted in the 
burning of Schenectady, February 9th, of that year, was 
organized at Montreal for the purpose of attacking Fort 
Orange, and consisted of two hundred and ten men, 
eighty of whom were Caughnawaga, or Praying Indians, un- 
der Kryn, a noted Mohawk convert to the Catholic religion. 



Schonowe or Schenectady 6i 

As in the expedition of Courcelle, just twenty-four years be- 
fore, they suffered severely from cold and lack of provisions. 
After having inarched five or six days, the Indians demanded 
of the French their intentions, and were told by the comman- 
ders, Sieurs La Moyne and De IMantet, that they were going 
to attack Fort Orange. Kryn, having in mind the disaster of 
the last year, inquired, " Since when have you become so des- 
perate ? " It was finally decided, however, to take the route 
leading to Corlear, or Schenectady, instead of Fort Orange. 

After a further journey of seventeen days they arrived 
within two leagues of Corlear at four o'clock P.M., and were 
harangued by the great Mohawk chief. Shortly after, four 
squaws were discovered in a wigwam, who gave the necessary 
information for the attack on the town. At eleven o'clock 
that night they came wuthin sight of the place and resolved to 
defer the assault until two o'clock in the morning, but the ex- 
cessive cold admitted of no further delay. 

The French account says: 

The town of Corlear forms a sort of oblong, with only two gates 
— one opposite the road w^e had taken, the other leading to Orange, 
six leagues distant. Messieurs de Sainte Helene and de Mantet 
were to enter the first, which the squaws pointed out, and which in 
fact was found wide open. Messieurs dTberville and de Montesson 
took the left with another detachment in order to make themselves 
masters of that leading to Orange. But they could not discover it, 
and returned to join the remainder of the party. A profound 
silence was observed until the two commanders, who separated at 
their entrance of the town for the purpose of encircling it, had met 
at the other extremity-. 

Within the stockade were about fifty houses, and a small 
fort or block house wath a garrison of ten or twelve men, while 
the total population is supposed to have been about two hun- 
dred. Weary with the festivities of the early evening, the vil- 
lagers were slumbering peacefully, unconscious of danger. 



62 The Mohawk Valley 

Suddenly, and seemingly from every point, on earth and sky, 
arose the fearful war cry of the savages, mingled with the ex- 
plosion of firearms, the hoarse shouts of command in a strange 
language, the crash of timber and the agonizing cries of 
women and children under the fatal blows of tomahawk and 
knife. Soon the fitful flames cast a lurid glow on the snow- 
covered streets, already stained with scarlet splashes and the 
dark still forms of the unfortunate Hollanders, while the howl- 
ing, painted warriors dashed hither and thither, plying blazing 
torch and reeking scalping knife with the zeal of the fanatic 
and the barbarity of the savage. 

It is said every house was destroyed but four or five; sixty 
men, women, and children were killed, about the same number 
of old men, women, and children spared, thirty men and boys 
taken prisoners, while many hid themselves in the forests, or 
fled through the snow to Fort Orange. 

Adam Vrooman, one of the villagers, saw his wife shot and 
his child brained against the door-post, but he fought so des- 
perately that his assailants promised him his life and liberty if 
he would surrender. His son and negro servant were carried 
away captives. 

In the morning a small party crossed the river to the house 
of Glen. It was loopholed and palisaded, and Captain Glen 
was prepared to defend it. The French told him they owed 
him a debt for kindness shown to French prisoners in the 
hands of the Mohawks, and that no harm should come to him 
or his kindred. Even two or three houses inside the palisade 
were saved from the flames because he requested it. 

The alarm having been given at Orange, fifty young men, 
under Peter Schuyler, proposed to follow the French in their 
retreat. Reinforced by a troop of Mohawk warriors, they fol- 
lowed them nearly to Montreal, when they fell upon the rear- 
guard, killing and capturing fifteen or more. 




DOUR IN THE GLEN-SANDERS HOUSE 



63 



Schonowe or Schenectady 65 

After a period of heartrending grief and depression, with 
true Dutch grit, the pioneers set to work to rebuild their 
ruined village; and with the help of their neighbors at Orange, 
and the friendly Mohawks, they again assumed the title of 
the frontier town of the West, and became the port of entry 
and departure of produce and supplies by the bateaux and 
canoes of the Inland Lock and Navigation Company, until the 
building of the Erie Canal. 

In 1819 occurred the " great fire," by which disaster the vil- 
lage — then a city — was again nearly wiped out of existence. 
The whole west end and business portion was destroyed, in 
all one hundred and sixty-nine houses. There was little, or 
no insurance, and it was a long time before Schenectady re- 
covered from the effects of the great fire. 

It is said that Arent Van Curler, when in 1642 he returned 
from an errand of mercy in behalf of some French prisoners in 
the hands of the Mohawks at Osseruenon, wrote that he had 
seen " the most beautiful land the eye of man ever beheld." 
Just one hundred and six years later this " beautiful land " 
was the scene of a typical Indian fight. 

Travellers on the New York Central going east, if they sit 
on the left-hand side of the coach, probably have seen one of 
the oldest houses in the Mohawk Valley and the scene of the 
Beukendaal massacre without being conscious of it. About 
midway between Hoffman's Ferry and Schenectady and about 
forty rods from the railroad, with nothing to intercept the 
sight except a thin fringe of trees in front of the building, 
stands the Toll mansion. In the spring and autumn its dull 
yellow color shows plainly through the trees which in summer 
time nearly hide the dwelling from view. We have nothing 
to do with this dwelling except to use it as a landmark to 
point out the humble historic building at the east of it and 
known as the DeGraaf house. 



66 The Mohawk Valley 

Near the railroad at this point is a substantial brick coun- 
try schoolhouse, to the west of which is the road that leads 
past the DeGraaf house and the hollow to the right of the 
road in which the fight took place. 

It ought not to be called a massacre, as it was a square 
stand-up fight with the whites as the attacking party, who on 
that account suffered more severely than the savages. 

The following account published in the Schenectady Demo- 
crat and Reflector, April 22, 1836, was gathered from tradi- 
tions then floating about among the aged people at that date. 

In the beginning of the month of July, 1747, Mr. Daniel Toll 
and his favorite servant, Ryckert, and Dirck Van Vorst went in 
search of some stray horses at Beukendaal, a locality about three 
miles from Schenectady. They soon heard what they supposed was 
the trampling of horses; but the sound they mistook for that made 
by horses' hoofs on the clayey ground proceeded from the quoits 
which the Indians were playing. 

Mr. Toll discovered his danger too late and fell pierced by bul- 
lets of the French savages, for such they were. Ryckert, more for- 
tunate, took to his heels and fled. He reached Schenectady in 
safety and told the dreadful news of the death of his master, and 
the presence of the enemy. 

In less than an hour about sixty volunteers were on the march to 
Beukendaal. The greater part of these were young men, and such 
was their zeal that they would not wait until the proper authorities 
had called out the militia. Without discipline or experience and 
even without a leader they hastened to the Indian camps. 

Those in advance of the main body before they reached the en- 
emy were attracted by a singular sight. They saw a man resem- 
bling Mr. Toll sitting near a fence in an adjoining field and a crow 
flying up and down before him. On coming nearer they discov- 
ered it to be the corpse of Mr. Toll with a crow attached to it by a 
string. 

This proved to be a stratagem of the Indians to decoy their ad- 
versaries. The Schenectadians fell, alas! too easily into the snare 
laid for them, and were in a few moments surrounded by the In- 
dians, who had been lying in ambush. Thus taken by surprise they 



Schonowe or Schenectady 69 

lost many of their number and some were taken prisoners before 
they could make good their retreat. 

They, however, succeeded in reaching the house of Mr. DeGraaf 
in the neighborhood, which had been for some time deserted. 
But while retreating they continued to fire upon the enemy. On 
reaching the DeGraaf house they entered, bolted the doors and as- 
cended to the second floor. Here they tore off the boards near the 
eaves and through the opening thus made fired with success at the 
savages and succeeded in keeping them at bay. In the meantime 
Dirck Van Vorst, who had been left in charge of two young Indians, 
effected his escape. 

The two youngsters were anxious to see the fight and secured 
their prisoner by tying him to a tree and left him alone. He suc- 
ceeded in getting his knife from his pocket and cutting the cord 
with which he was bound. On the approach of the Schenectady 
militia under Col. Jacob Glen the party in Mr. DeGraaf's house 
were relieved from their perilous situation and the enemy took up 
their line of march for Canada, probably along the Sacandaga trail. 

In this engagement twenty whites were killed and thirteen or 
fourteen taken prisoners and a number wounded. The bodies of 
Nicholas A. DeGraaf and Jacob Glen, Jr., were found lying in 
close contact with their savage antagonists, with whom they had 
wrestled in deadly strife. 

The corpses were taken to Schenectady the evening of the 
massacre and deposited in a large barn of Abraham Mabee, 
being the identical one now standing on the premises (1883) 
of Mrs, Benjamin in Church Street. 

The above account is interesting because it shows what 
perils the settlers had to undergo before they could establish a 
peaceful home for their families. 

The DeGraaf house, as seen from the cars, does not appear 
any different from many unpainted weather-worn houses to be 
seen by driving a few miles on any of the country roads that 
lead from the city except, perhaps, that the roof is higher and 
more pointed than those erected at a later date. 

In 1706 a new fort was erected near the site of the old fort, 



70 The Mohawk Valley 

and called the Queen's Fort, and from that time until the com- 
mencement of the Revolution was garrisoned by British 
troops. 

From a Paris document we find the following description 
of Schenectady in 1757; 

Chenectedi, or Corlar, situated on the bank of the Mohawk 
River, is a village of about three hundred houses. It is surrounded 
by upright pickets, flanked from distance to distance. Entering 
the village by the gate on the Fort Hunter side, there is a fort to the 
right which forms a species of citadel in the interior of the village it- 
self. It is a square flanked with four bastions, or demi-bastions, and 
is constructed half of masonry and half of timbers, piled one over 
the other above the masonry. It is capable of holding two hundred 
men. There are some pieces of cannon as a battery on the ram- 
parts. It is not encircled by a ditch. The entrance is through a 
large swing gate, raised like a draw-bridge. By penetrating the 
village in attacking it at another point, the fire from the fort can be 
avoided. The greatest portion of the inhabitants of Chenectedi are 
Dutch. 

The presence of English soldiers probably suggested the 
occasional holding of the services of the Church of England 
for the English-speaking residents, as the Rev. Thomas Bar- 
clay, an English clergyman and missionary to the Mohawks from 
1 708-1 7 1 2, says in 17 10: " There is a convenient and well- 
built church at Schenectady, which they freely give me the 
use of." (The second building of the Dutch Church.) 

The natural increase of the English population as the 
years rolled by, called for a church of their own, but the com- 
paratively small number of English-speaking people, and the 
lack of means, delayed this for years, although the foundation 
was begun as early as 1759. It was not completed, however, 
until about 1767, and named St. George's Episcopal Church. 
It is said that the Presbyterians subscribed to its erection 
with the understanding that it should be used in common by 



Schonowe or Schenectady 72) 

both denominations. Sir William Johnson is known to have 
contributed liberally, and also obtained subscriptions from his 
friends — at one time sixty-one pounds and ten shillings from 
the Governors of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 

This old stone church is still standing near the site of the 
Queen's Fort, beautiful and picturesque in its time-worn stone 
walls and quaint interior decorations. 

Eight miles above the city of Schenectady, on the south 
side of the Mohawk River and situated on the easterly half of 
what was termed the third flat in the original division of land 
under the Schenectady patent, is seen to-day an old brick 
house known as the Bradt house, erected in 1736. 

This house was built of brick, front and sides, and wood 
in the rear. In 1883 it presented the forlorn appearance of a 
vacant dwelling with its rotten roof, toppling chimneys, and 
broken windows, but to-day it presents a scene of rural beauty 
with its dormer windows and frame additions and general reno- 
vation, with the aid of paint and putty, together with its set- 
ting of foliage and flowers. I do not know that it is noted for 
anything but its antiquity. 

On the same fiat, about a mile to the west of the eastern 
border of the little but old village of Rotterdam, is another 
dwelling, called the Mabie house, which holds itself remark- 
ably strait and prim in spite of its age. 

It is situated on a bluff on the edge of the Mohawk and at 
the concave side of a bend commanding a view of the river for 
a considerable distance in either direction. It is built of stone, 
with steep roof, which gives it the appearance of being one 
story on its sides and two stories and attic on its gable front. 

It still retains its windows with small panes of glass, the 
heavy exposed timbers in the lower story, and its outside 
doors in two parts. 

It is supposed to have been erected about 1680, making it 



74 The Mohawk Valley 

the oldest house in the valley. On its south side, but de- 
tached from the main building, is a structure built of brick, 
also bearing the impress of antiquity. 

From its large brick ovens and appearance of general utility 
it is probable that it was used as a kitchen and servants' 
quarters. 

Professor Pearson says: "In view of the fact that a brick 
or stone v/ing across the end would connect the detached 
building and afford increased space with all modern conveni- 
ences and yet preserve unaltered this old ' hofstede ' to the 
Mabie family, and a time-honored landmark in the Mohawk 
Valley, its destruction would be regretted." 



Chapter V 
Immigration and Settlement of the Palatines 

AMONG the earliest settlers of the Mohawk Valley, 
after the Dutch Boers, were their kindred from the 
Palatinate. We call them kindred because they also 
received the name of Mohawk Dutch and assisted in 
the construction of that almost untranslatable language called 
" Mohawk Dutch," a mixture of German, Dutch, and Mo- 
hawk, making a dialect that when found in public documents 
proves a puzzle to philologists. 

The Story of the Palatines, by the Rev. Sanford H. Cobb, 
dedicated " To the Children of the Palatines, my Old Parish- 
ioners in the High Dutch Churches of Schoharie and Sauger- 
ties," is very interesting. While following the records of 
history strictly, he attempts to correct many impressions that 
have prevailed in regard to the social status of the immigration 
to the banks of the Hudson, in 1710. He protests against the 
term," poor Palatines," and quotes Mrs. Lamb's disparaging 
remarks by the side of Macaulay's description of the people. 
Mrs. Lamb says: 

These earlier German settlers were mostly hewers of wood and 
drawers of water, differing materially from the class of Germans 
who have since come among us, and bearing about the same rela- 
tion to the English, Dutch, and French settlers of their time, as the 
Chinese of to-day bear to the American population on the Pacific 
coast. 

Macaulay justly describes the same people as follows: 

77 



78 The Mohawk Valley 

" Honest, laborious men, who had once been thriving bur- 
gers of Manheim and Heidelberg, or who had cultivated the 
vine on the banks of the Neckar and the Rhine, their in- 
genuity and their diligence could not fail to enrich any land 
which should afford them an asylum." They rather resembled 
the Huguenots, as they were driven from their homes by the 
armies of France, who laid waste their lands and destroyed 
their cities, and the persecutions of their own Palatine princes, 
who were alternately Calvinists, Lutherans, or Romanists. 
They came to this country for freedom to worship God, and 
the Calvinists and the Reformed built their churches side by 
side on the Hudson and on the Schoharie and Mohawk. The 
exodus of the Palatines bears some resemblance to the exodus 
of the children of Israel, from the fact that it seems to have 
been a movement of nearly the whole people. Some went to 
Holland, others to north Germany; but the larger number 
found their way to England, and thronged the streets of Lon- 
don to that extent that they were lodged in warehouses and 
barns, and in some instances buildings were erected, while on 
the Surrey side of the Thames one thousand tents were 
pitched, and the generous and charitably disposed people were 
taxed to the utmost to provide subsistence for this destitute 
army of immigrants. It became evident to Queen Anne and 
her advisers that something must be done to find employment 
or new homes for the wanderers. About five thousand were ab- 
sorbed in various employments within the kingdom, while 
nearly four thousand were sent over to Ireland, and about 
ninety-two families, or in the neighborhood of six hundred 
persons, were sent to the Carolinas in charge of a Swiss gentle- 
man named Christopher de Graffenreid, a native of Berne, 
who named the settlement Newberne. 

While the Palatines were yet in London there came to 
England an important delegation from the province of New 




lkJ3k«'ii^ ■^•<». ~««rk„ «v 



Immigration and Settlement of Palatines 8i 

York, consisting of Peter Schuyler, then Mayor of Albany, 
and Colonel Nicholson, one of Her Majesty's officers in 
America, and five Mohawk sachems. Their mission was to 
urge the need of more generous measures on the part of the 
home government for the defence of the province against the 
French and their allied Indians. 

" The arrival of the sachems, in their barbaric costume, oc- 
casioned great observation throughout the kingdom. Crowds 
followed them in the streets, and small pictures of them were 
widely sold." The court was in mourning for the Prince of 
Denmark, and the Indians were dressed in black underclothes, 
but a scarlet ingrain cloth mantle was thrown over all other 
garments. 

The English and the Indians alike were delighted with the exhi- 
bitions. The guards were reviewed for their entertainment, and 
they were taken to see plays in the theatres. They were given an 
audience by the queen, to whom they presented belts of wampum, 
and represented that not only the English, but the friendly Indians 
needed a more efficient defence against the French. The reduction 
of Canada would be of great weight to their free hunting. 

It is said that in the walks of the Indian chiefs about the 
outskirts of London, they became interested in the homeless 
and houseless Palatines, and one of them voluntarily presented 
Queen Anne a tract of his land on the Schoharie, for the use 
and benefit of the distressed Germans. This was in 1709. 
The next year a colony of three thousand Palatines under the 
charge of Governor Robert Hunter, as " servants of the 
crown," sailed for the port of New York and settled on land 
provided for them near the Uvingston manor, and on the op- 
posite side of the Hudson at Saugerties. 

On this land, and under the direction of Governor Hunter, 
they attempted the production of turpentine, resin, or pitch, 
which proved a failure. Becoming dissatisfied with their lot, 

6 



82 The Mohawk Valley 

which was only a h'ttle less than slavery, they petitioned to be 
allowed to go to the promised land of " Schorie," which the 
Indians and Queen Anne had given them. Permission being 
refused, they rebelled and about fifty families migrated to the 
valley of " Schorie," as they called it, in the fall of 1712. In 
March, 1713, " the remainder of the people (treated by Gov- 
ernor Hunter as Pharaoh treated the Israelites) proceeded on 
their journey, and by God's assistance joined their friends and 
countrymen in the promised land of ' Schorie.' " 

They had hardly got settled in the several settlements, be- 
fore they found themselves again in trouble, with the " Gen- 
tlemen of Albany," and various other persons, who claimed 
the land by earlier grants from the Mohawks. Adam Vroo- 
man, the surviving hero of the massacre of Schenectady, was 
one of the settlers who came into conflict with the Palatines, 
also Lewis Morris, Jr., and Andries Coeymans. There is also 
an account of their treatment of Sheriff Adams, who at- 
tempted to serve papers on some of the Germans without a 
posse. 

The first attempt brought on a riot, in which the stalwart Palatine 
women took an active and leading part. Led by Magdalena Zeh, 
the women attacked the sheriff, knocked him down and beat him; 
then they dragged him througli the nastiest puddles of their barn- 
yards, and putting him on a rail, rode him skimmington through the 
settlements for seven miles or more, and finally left him with two 
broken ribs, on a bridge well out on the road to Albany. 

These continual conflicts made life a burden to the Pala- 
tines in their promised " Schorie," and at last, despairing of 
receiving justice from the authorities at Albany, a large num- 
ber of them, in 1722, accepted offers from Pennsylvania to lo- 
cate in that province. Probably about three hundred remained 
in the Schoharie Valley, some having already settled along 
the Mohawk, west of Schoharie River. 



Immigration and Settlement of Palatines S^ 

I have before me a list of some of the Palatines located 
along the Mohawk and Schoharie rivers, and among them 
find names belonging to the most respected families, who are 
doubtless descendants of those sturdy Germans: 

Becker, Kneiskern, Conrad, Schnell (Snell), Nelles (Nellis), 
Young, Houck, Angell, Snyder, Wagner, Neff, Newkirk, 
Klein, Cline, Kline, Planck, Bronck, Timmerrnan, and a host 
of others. 



Chapter VI 
Queen Ann's Chapel 

THE delegation spoken of on page 8i was in England 
in the year 1708. At an audience given them by 
Queen Anne, among other requests, they prayed 
that Her Majesty should build them a fort and erect 
a church at their castle at the junction of the Schoharie and 
Mohawk rivers, called Tiononderoga. This she promised to 
do, and when Governor Robert Hunter arrived in New York 
in 1 7 10 he carried with him instructions to build forts and 
chapels for the Mohawks and Onondagas. These orders 
were carried out as far as the Mohawks were concerned and 
the fort named Fort Hunter, but the Onondaga Chapel was 
never built. 

The contract for the construction of the fort was taken 
October 11, 171 1, by Garret Symonce, Barant and Hendrick 
Vrooman, Jan Wemp, and Arent Van Patten, all of Sche- 
nectady. 

The walls were formed of logs, well pinned together, 
twelve feet high, the enclosure being one hundred and fifty 
feet square. Surrounded by the palisades of the fort and 
in the centre of the enclosure stood the historic edifice 
known as Queen Ann's Chapel. It was erected by the 
builders of the fort, being, in fact, part of their contract. 
It was built of limestone, was twenty-four feet square, and 
had a belfry. 

§4 



Queen Anne's Chapel 85 

The ruins of the fort were torn down at the beginning of 
the Revolution, and the chapel surrounded by heavy pali- 
sades, block-houses being built at each corner, on which can- 
non were mounted. 

It is said that soon after the erection of Queen Anne's 
Chapel the Dutch built a log " meeting-house " near what was 
afterwards know as Snook's Corners, but all trace of the build- 
ing long ago disappeared. The first missionaries to the Mo- 
hawks of whom we can find any account, who, under the 
auspices of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 
Foreign Parts, connected with the Church of England, sent out 
to teach the Indians, were the Rev. Mr. Talbot, in 1702, fol- 
lowed shortly afterwards by the Rev. Thoroughgood Moore, in 
1704. It is said that the Rev. Mr. Moore was driven away from 
Tiononderoga by the Indian traders and went to New Bruns- 
wick, Connecticut. He was so scandalized at the conduct of 
Governor Cornby and the Lieutenant-Governor that he re- 
fused to allow the Lieutenant-Governor to approach the table 
of the Lord's Supper, for which act he was arrested and im- 
prisoned in jail. • He succeeded in escaping and took passage 
in a vessel sailing for England. As the vessel never reached 
its destination, it is supposed to have foundered in mid-ocean 
and all on board lost. 

The Rev. Thomas Barclay, chaplain of Fort Orange, in the 
city of Albany, was then called. He labored among the Mo- 
hawks from 1708 to 17 1 2, and was, in 17 12, succeeded by the 
Rev. William Andrews. The parsonage or manse was built in 
1712. The next record we find regarding Queen Anne's Chapel, 
is the purchase or grant from the Crown of a tract of land con- 
taining three hundred acres. I'his was called the Barclay tract 
and was granted to the Rev. Henry Barclay, November 27, 1741, 
presumably for the benefit of Queen Anne's Chapel, and was 
afterwards known as Queen Anne's Chapel, " glebe," the term 



86 The Mohawk Valley 

glebe being used to denote lands belonging to, or yielding 
revenue to a parish church, an ecclesiastical benefice. 

The records say that the Rev. Mr. Andrews was no more 
successful than his predecessors, and in 1719 abandoned his 
mission. The most cordial relations existed between the 
ministers of the Reformed Dutch Church, who also sent mis- 
sionaries from Albany to the Mohawk Indians, and the Epis- 
copal Church in their Indian mission work. After the Rev. Mr. 
Andrews abandoned his mission, the Church of England had 
no resident missionary among the Mohawks until the Rev. 
Henry Barclay came in 1735, being appointed catechist to the 
Indians at Fort Hunter. His stay with them was made very 
uncomfortable by the French war and the attitude of his 
neighbors. He had no interpreter and but poor support, and 
his life was frequently in danger. In 1745 he was obliged to 
leave Fort Hunter and in 1746 was appointed rector of Trinity 
Church, New York, where he died. The Rev. John Ogilvie 
was Dr. Barclay's successor. He commenced his work in 
March, 1749, and succeeded Dr. Barclay also at Trinity Church, 
New York, after the latter's death in 1764. Queen Anne's 
Chapel seems to have been a stepping-stone to the rectorship 
of Trinity Church. 

Sir William Johnson and the Rev. Mr. Inglis, of New 
York, obtained from the Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel in the year 1770, the Rev, John Stuart, as missionary 
for service at Queen Anne's Chapel and vicinity. 

The Rev. John Stuart was a man of gigantic size and strength 
— over six feet high — called by the Mohawks " the little gen- 
tleman." He preached his first sermon at Indian Castle on 
Christmas Day, 1770. He had a congregation at the chapel 
of two hundred persons and upwards. In 1774 he was able to 
read the liturgy and the several offices of baptism, marriages, 
etc., to his flock in the language of the Mohawks. 



Queen Anne's Chapel 87 

This practically is the end of our knowledge of Queen 
Anne's Chapel as a church. When we hear from it again it 
will be as a ruin. 

Right here it may be well to give a description of the same, 
as a church. We already know that it was built of limestone, 
was twenty-four feet square, and had a belfry. It also had a 
bell which was afterward placed in an institution of learning 
at Johnstown and did good service for a number of years until 
the building and the bell weie destroyed by fire a few years 
ago. 

The entrance to the chapel was in the north side. The 
pulpit stood at the west and was provided with a sounding- 
board. There was also a reading-desk. Directly opposite the 
pulpit were two pews with elevated floors, one of which, with 
a wooden canopy, in later times was Sir William Johnson's; 
the other was for the minister's family. The rest of the con- 
gregation had movable benches for seats. The chapel had a 
veritable organ, the very Christopher Columbus of its kind, in 
all probability the first instrument of music of such dignity in 
all the wilderness west of Albany. It was over fifty years 
earlier than the erection of the Episcopal church at Johnstown, 
which had an organ brought from England, of very respectable 
size and great sweetness of tone, which continued in use up to 
the destruction of the church by fire in 1836. Queen Anne 
sent as furniture for the chapel: 

A communion table-cloth. 

Two damask napkins. 

A carpet for the communion table. 

An altar cloth. 

A small tasselled cushion for the pulpit. 

One Holland surplice. 

A small cushion for the desk. 

One larsfe Bible. 



88 The Mohawk Valley 

Two common prayer books. 

One common prayer book for the clerk. 

A book of homilies. 

One large silver salver. 

Two large silver flagons. 

One silver dish. 

One silver chalice. 

Four paintings of Her Majesty's arms on canvas, one for 
the chapel and three for the different Mohawk castles. 

Twelve large octavo Bibles bound for use of the chapels 
among the Mohawks and Onondagas. 

Two painted tables containing the Lord's Prayer, Creed, 
and Ten Commandments, " at more than twenty guineas 
expense." 

A candelabrum, with nine sockets, arranged in the form of 
a triangle, an emblem of the Trinity, and a cross, both of 
brass, were in the parsonage many years, but, regarded as use- 
less, were, in our late civil war, melted and sold for old metal. 

In 1877 the manse was still standing and in a fair state of 
preservation, though parts of the woodwork showed signs of de- 
cay. At the present time it has the appearance of a very dura- 
ble stone building with main entrance to the south. It is two 
stories high and about twenty-five by thirty-five feet in size. 
The walls are thick, making the recesses of the quaint old 
windows very deep, the glass being six by eight and the sash 
in one piece. The glass for the windows and the bricks for 
the single large chimney were brought from Holland. On the 
east end of the building and over the cellar arch the characters 
" 1712 " are still legible. 

In 1888 the late owner, Mr. DeWitt Devendorf, repaired 
the old parsonage and tore down the old chimney and very 
thoughtfully presented about fifty of the old Dutch brick to 
St. Ann's Church, Amsterdam, N. Y. , the lineal descendant 



Queen Anne's Chapel 91 

of Queen Anne's Chapel and the principal recipient of the 
funds derived from the sale of the old glebe farms. 

On June 8, 1790, Rev. Mr. Ellison preached at Fort Hunter. 
He says: " The church is in a wretched condition, the pulpit, 
reading-desk, and two of the pews only being left, the win- 
dows being destroyed, the floor demolished, and the walls 
cracked," 

Except on a few occasions by the Rev. Mr. Dempster, the 
chapel had not been used for a number of years, when it was 
demolished about the year 1820, to give place to the Erie 
Canal. The roof was burned off to get its stone walls, the 
stone being used in constructing guard-locks for the canal 
near its site. It is said that at the beginning of the Revolu- 
tion the silver service, curtains, fringes, gold lace, and other 
fixtures of the chapel were put in a hogshead by the Mohawks 
and buried on the side of the hill south of the Boyd Hudson 
Place near Auriesville, N. Y. At the close of the war, when 
found by sounding with irons rods, it was discovered that the 
silver service had been removed and the cask reburied, but by 
whom or w4ien it was never known. Most of the articles re- 
maining were so damaged by moisture as to be unfit for use. 

The question is often asked why was not the old canal con- 
structed in the same straight line that the new canal follows in 
passing through Fort Hunter ? At the time the old canal was 
built, about 1820, there was a bridge across the Schoharie just 
above the chapel, and the channel was diverted from a straight 
line, passed through the site of the chapel, and the building 
destroyed in order to make use of the bridge in towing the 
boats across the stream at this point, as it was deemed more 
economical to destroy this historic landmark than go to the 
expense of building a new bridge. 

Commenting upon this act at the present time we call it 
vandalism, but you must remember that in those days there 



92 The Mohawk Valley 

were no churchmen in that locality, and that its roof had been 
a " refuge from the storm " for the sheep and cattle that were 
pastured on the land near by. For years the voice of prayer 
and thanksgiving had been hushed, and instead of the solemn 
notes of the deep-toned organ within walls that had echoed 
alike to the song of praise and the war cry of the Mohawks, 
naught was heard but the lowing of cattle and the plaintive call 
of the sheep for its young. We condemn this act of vandalism, 
but are we in our day any more careful to preserve the old land- 
marks around which cling so many sweet and tender memories. 

With the assistance of Trinity Church, New York, an Epis- 
copal church was erected in 1835 at Port Jackson, (the 
present fifth ward of Amsterdam, N. Y.), and maintained with 
the assistance of funds derived from the sale of Queen Anne 
Chapel glebe farms. This church was named St. Ann. 

The church of Port Jackson seems to have had a hard 
struggle for existence, probably on account of its locality. 
During the rectorship of Rev. A. N. Littlejohn (the lately 
deceased Bishop of Long Island) the edifice was sold and 
steps taken to erect a stone building on Division Street, 
Amsterdam, N. Y. 

The building of this little stone church marked an era in 
church building in Amsterdam, which previous to its erection 
were of the plain, unpretentious style of the fore part of the 
nineteenth century. Even in its unfinished state, no one 
could look at its gray walls and Gothic arches without seeing 
its possibilities for beauty when completed. The building of 
1 85 1 was of Gothic style, the nave only being constructed. 
A wide aisle in the centre led up to the narrow chancel in the 
north end. The chancel rail enclosed the altar-table with a 
modest reredos behind it and the reading-desk on the west side 
of it. Outside of the rail, and a little in advance from it on the 
east side, stood a small octagonal elevated pulpit. In the rear. 



Queen Anne's Chapel 93 

or south end, of the church and over the vestibule, the choir 
was located. The first organ, purchased in 1841, was 
bought in New York City, was second hand, and the name 
of the maker has been forgotten. A new organ was purchased 
in 1874 of Johnson and Co., Westfield, Mass., for $1500. 
This organ is still in use in the new church. 

The present edifice was repaired and enlarged in 1888 to 
accommodate a largely increased congregation. The interior 
is spacious, the whole depth being about one hundred and 
thirty feet, and width sixty-five feet, with nave, north and 
south aisles, and choir. It is lighted with numerous windows 
painted to represent scenes in the life of Christ and emblems 
of Christianity. All, or nearly all, of the windows are in me- 
moriam and are beautifully executed. 

Approaching the church from the east the eye rests on the 
green, well-kept lawn, with here and there a tall maple or elm 
springing from its surface in pleasing irregularity. Through 
their branches we catch a glimpse of the little stone church 
and tower, which partially hides from view the main body of 
the edifice. Then we see a portion of the stone pillars of a 
Grecian porch with its iron railings and gateway. A few 
steps more and the panorama is complete and the whole south 
front of the church is in view. The gray walls of the older 
portion when compared to the completed church is " as moon- 
light unto sunlight and as water unto wine." 

The dull red of the superstructure, the rough ashler of the 
gray stone walls peeping through the dense foliage of the Jap- 
anese ivy, the green carpet of the lawn, dotted here and there 
with trees of venerable age, whose branches " half conceal yet 
half reveal " the grandeur of the completed edifice, make a 
picture that no artist can ever reproduce. 

As the visitor enters the church at the western or main en- 
trance, the heavy oaken doors and bare stone walls of the 



94 The Mohawk \'alley 

vestibule impress one with the idea of solidity, and the \"ie\r of 
the interior after passing the swnnging baize doors, is in a de- 
gree a surprise. The low aisles on each side with slender 
pillars, and the loftA" nave with its graceful arches, with colors 
of gray and brown, and blue and brilliant tints of the beautiful 
windows, give a feeling of rest lo the beholder: and as the e\-e 
wanders and is finally held by the graceful choir, a little som- 
bre perhaps, in the distance, relieved somewhat by the glitter 
of lectum and pulpit, its churchliness impresses one. and the 
thought of the visitor might well be, *" truly this is the house 
of God." 

From Oronhyatekha, the Supreme Chief Ranger of the 
Foresters of Canada and descendant from the Mohawks of 
Tiononderoga. and from Rev. R. Ashton, the present incum- 
bent of the Mohawk Church at Brantford. Ontario, Canada, I 
have received the following information : 

It appears that the communion service that Queen Anne 
sent to the Mohawks was buried on their old reservation at 
Fort Hunter during the Revolution, and remained there some 
years or until the Mohawks became settled in the reser\-ation 
near Brantford (1785), and on the Bay of Ouinte; then a part^' 
was sent back, resurrected the plate, and brought it back to 
Canada. For a period of twent^^-two years prior to July. 
1S97, the plate was safely kept by Mrs. J. M. Hill, the grand- 
daughter of the celebrated chief, Capt. Joseph Brant, whose 
mother was the original custodian, having kept it from the 
time of its arri\-al in Canada till her death. 

Of course the custodian was required to take the com- 
munion plate to the church on communion days. 

Later the Mohawks were presented with a communion set, 
after M;hich the Queen Anne plate ^as only used on state 
occasions. 

In 17S5 some of the Mohawks settled a: the Bay of Ouinte 



Queen Anne's Chapel 97 

and the larger body on Grand River, Brantford. The Rev. 
John Stuart, D.D., who had been their missionary at Fort 
Hunter and fled to Canada with the Indians and Tories, was 
appointed to the charge of both bands, and a church was built 
at both places by King George III. The plate was then 
divided; it consisted of seven pieces, two flagons, two chal- 
ices, two patens, and one alms basin. 

To the Grand River band was given the alms basin and one 
each of the other pieces, also a large Bible. 

The Indians at the Bay of Quinte have a flagon, paten, 
and chalice in the hands of Mrs. John Hill, at Deseronto, 
Canada. The chalice at Grand River is much bent, the other 
pieces are in good order, as is also the Bible, Each piece of 
plate is inscribed: " The Gift of Her Majesty Ann, by the 
Grace of God, of Great Britain, ffrance and Ireland and Her 
Plantations in North America, Queen, to Her Indian Chappel 
of the Mohawks." The Bible, printed in 1701, is in good con- 
dition and bears on the cover, " For Her Majesty's Church of 
the Mohawks, 1712," 

This plate has a value aside from its intrinsic value, as ex- 
plained by Rev. R. Ashton: 

^ You are probably aware that all pure silver plate manufactured 
in England is stamped by the Government, which stamp is called 
the " hall mark," which indicates that the article is of standard sil- 
ver or standard gold. From March, 1696, to June, 1720, Britannia 
and the lion's head erased, were substituted for leopard's head 
crowned and the lion passant on silver, which both before and 
since have been in use as the " hall mark." All silver bearing the 
former mark (and it is plainly seen on every piece of the Mohawk 
and Onondaga silver), is greatly prized, and is termed Queen Anne 
silver. 



Chapter VII 
Count Frontenac and the Mohawk Valley 

COUNT DE FRONTENAC, who was twice Governor 
of Canada, is so closely connected with the history 
of the Mohawk Valley by his warlike expeditions 
against the Iroquois and the massacre of the inhabi- 
tants of Schenectady, that we cannot write the history of the 
valley without frequent mention of his name. 

He was born in France in 1620, and in early manhood 
served in the French army and distinguished himself in a war 
against the Turks. In 1648 he married Anne de LaGrange 
Trianon against her father's wishes. She was a favorite com- 
panion of Mademoiselle de Montpensier, Princess of Orleans, 
and was one of the beauties of the Court of Louis XV. The 
happiness of the newly wedded pair was of short duration, as 
love, on her part at least, soon changed to aversion, and after 
the birth of a son, the countess left her husband, to follow the 
fortunes of Mademoiselle de Montpensier. 

In 1672 Count de Frontenac received the appointment of 
Governor of all New France. 

It is said that he accepted the appointment to deliver him- 
self from the imperious temper of his wife and afford him some 
means of living. Another story is that he had found favor in 
the eyes of Madame de Montespan, one of the favorites of 
Louis XIV,, and the jealous King appointed him Governor of 
New France to get him away from Madame. 

Frontenac's administration was vigorous and satisfactory. 



Count Frontenac and the Mohawk Valley 99 

but coming in contact with the Jesuits was recalled in 1681, 
and a new Governor, named La Fevre de la Barre, appointed 
in his place. 

The affairs of New France soon going from bad to worse 
under the new administration of LaBarre, he was also recalled, 
and Marquis de Denonville assumed the vacant office. The new 
Governor soon found himself involved in a war with the Iro- 
quois of such magnitude that the colony of New France was 
brought to the brink of ruin. He, also, was recalled, and 
Frontenac again made Governor. It is said that his wife used 
her influence in having him appointed the second time, in 
order to get him out of the country. This was in 1689. 
Frontenac entered into the campaign of 1690 with vigor, and 
sent three war parties of French and Indians against the Eng- 
lish, one against Albany, which was diverted, and resulted in 
the massacre of Schenectady, one against the border settle- 
ments of New Hampshire, and the third to those of Maine, 
all of which were successful in murdering defenceless men, 
women, and children. 

In 1696 Frontenac organized the famous expedition against 
the Onondagas and Oneidas, for the purpose of exterminating 
them, and thereby conquering the Iroquois. On the 4th of 
July of that year he left Montreal at the head of about twenty- 
two hundred men, about one-third of whom were Canadian 
Indians. The result of that expedition is well known to his- 
tory, and may be called a failure in more ways than one. 

It is said that the destruction of the Indian villages was 
secondary to the real object of this expedition. 

It may be stated here that Frontenac, when he arrived at 
the Onondaga villages, found nothing but burned and deserted 
ruins and the Indians' standing crops. These he destroyed 
and took up his march home again. It is said that the Count 
was so infirm that he was carried most of the way on a litter. 



loo The Mohawk Valley 

Tradition says that in one of the periodical raids of the 
Mohawks on their foes, the Algonquins, during the absence 
of Frontenac in France, they secured a number of prisoners, 
among whom was a beautiful half-breed girl that Frontenac 
had a paternal interest in, and who had received the rudiments 
of education by his efforts. 

Every effort had been made in vain during occasional ces- 
sations of hostilities between the French and the Mohawks to 
recover this child. But beyond the report of a wandering 
Jesuit, that he had seen a Christian captive living contentedly 
as the wife of a young Mohawk chief, he had not been able to 
hear from his nut-brown daughter. The real object of the 
expedition of 1696 was to recover this child, whom he had 
learned to love. 

We will now trace this child from her home in Canada to 
her new home on the banks of the Mohawk River. 

The usual route of war parties between Canada and the 
Mohawk and Hudson valleys was by the way of Lake Cham- 
plain as far as Ballston, where the trail divided, one striking 
the Mohawk at Schenectady, another through Glenville to 
Lewis Creek at Adriuche, and another through Galway and 
down the Juchtanunda Creek. 

It is probable that the latter route was taken by the party 
of Mohawks with the half-breed daughter of Count Frontenac, 
as one of the captives. At that time she was about sixteen 
years old, of medium height, well developed, and just budding 
into womanhood ; her black hair and eyes, her erect form and firm 
step, while on the march, were indicative of her Huron mother 
and forest training, while the clear complexion, with its dusky 
hue, and the large, half-closed eyes and dignity of carriage, 
proclaimed the sin of her father. While encamped near the 
division of the trail at Ballston the warriors were joined by an 
Indian hunting party well laden with the spoils of the chase. 




FALLS ON THE SOUTH CHL CTANUiNDA 



Count Frontenac and the Mohawk Valley 103 

The leader of the hunting party, Achavvi, a young Indian 
already noted in his tribe for his courage and skill in battle 
and his wisdom in council, was a model of savage beauty. His 
tall, well-proportioned form and well-poised head, his long 
black hair flowing from under a band of eagle feathers, his 
piercing black eyes and noble features unadorned with the war 
paint that marred the faces of his companions, were enhanced 
by the picturesque costume he wore. Over the short leggings 
which left his shapely limbs bare half-way above the knee, 
hung a heavy beaded skirt of buckskin, while depending from 
the left shoulder, and passing under the right arm, leaving the 
upper part of the breast bare, was a short robe of otter. Out- 
side the robe on his right side hung a highly ornamented bow 
and quiver of arrows, and his feet were covered with beaded 
moccasins. His name, Achawi (settler of disputes), would 
indicate that he was a man of more than ordinary ability in 
the councils of his tribe at Tiononderoga (Fort Hunter). 

As soon as the identity of the newcomers was established, 
the party assumed the usual stoical indifference of Indians, al- 
though their advent, well ladened with fresh venison, was wel- 
come to the weary and hungry warriors and their captives. 

Oneta and her female companions were seated near the 
fire, their forms well covered with blankets, and did not at- 
tract the attention of Achawi, but out from the folds that 
covered her head, Oneta gazed with increasing interest on the 
form of this young warrior, who, compared with her war- 
stained and painted captors, with their belts decorated with 
the scalps of her slain friends, seemed like a creature from 
another world. On the following morning the young maiden 
was early awake, and hastened to the stream to wash away the 
stains of travel and pay additional care to the details of her 
simple toilet. Returning slowly through the forest, her eyes 
radiant and her cheeks glowing from her ablution, she became 



104 The Mohawk Valley 

aware of the approach of the young warrior. No wonder this 
untutored son of the forest gazed entranced at the vision that 
so unexpectedly appeared before him. Her beautiful form, 
but scantily covered by the simple robe worn by the denizens 
of the forest, was revealed in all its beauty of outline; her 
long black hair, bound with a band of silver across her forehead, 
and the tresses brought forward, half concealed yet half re- 
vealed the beauty of her naked arm and shoulder. Hastily 
drawing her blanket around her she returned his gaze of ad- 
miration with a smile that disclosed her pearly teeth and her 
delight at the accidental meeting. It was a case of love at 
first sight and after a few words in the Huron language they 
returned together to the camp, and found preparation being 
made for immediate departure for the Mohawk River, where 
they arrived in a drizzling rain at nightfall and at once found 
shelter along the shore " under the hanging rocks of the 
Juchtanunda. Some of the party, however, were soon sent 
forward to procure boats to convey the captive women to 
Tiononderoga. 

In the morning, the canoes having arrived, Achawi was 
placed in charge of one of the canoes containing the women, 
one of whom was Oneta, and improved his opportunity by 
making love to the stranger. Arriving at Tiononderoga it was 
decided that the canoe of Achawi should continue to Kan- 
yeageh and that Oneta should be placed in the family of the 
aunt of Kateri Tekakwitha, who was formerly a Huron 
captive. 

Although Oneta pined for her home on the St. Lawrence, 
the presence of the Jesuit Father De Lamberville and the 
frequent visits of Achawi made her life on the Mohawk more 
bearable than if she had been left entirely to the mercy of the 
fretful aunt of Tekakwitha. 

Although Indian maids had occupied Achawi's lodge for a 



Count Frontenac and the Mohawk Valley 107 

limited period in experimental marriages, which was made law- 
ful by custom, he had never met a maiden before that he was 
willing to take as his wife. It was not long therefore before he 
gained the consent of Oneta and, with the blessing of Father 
De Lamberville, and according to the simple rites of his tribe, 
he took her to his lodge at Tiononderoga. 

The repeated attempts made by the Count to regain his 
daughter kept them in constant fear that he would at last suc- 
ceed, and it was on this account that Achawi removed his lodge 
to a secluded glen near the Juchtanunda, within the limits of 
the present city of Amsterdam. This precaution was well 
taken, for in 1693 Count Frontenac sent an expedition against 
the Mohawks, destroyed their three castles or villages, and 
three hundred men, women, and children were taken pris- 
oners, hoping that among them he might find his lost daugh- 
ter. This expedition was pursued by General Schuyler and a 
party of Mohawks, and narrowly escaped destruction. The 
fleeing Frenchmen reached the Hudson, where, to their dis- 
may, they found the ice breaking up and drifting down the 
stream. Happily for them a large sheet of it became wedged 
at a turn of the river forming a temporary bridge, over which 
they crossed in safety. 

Among the border scouts and traders that were scattered 
along the valley of the Mohawk was a renegade Fleming by 
the name of Hanyost. In early youth he had deserted from 
the French ranks in Flanders, came to New France, after- 
ward made his way down to the Dutch settlements on the 
Hudson, and later became domiciled among the Mohawks, 
and adopted the life of a hunter. Up to this time he had been 
faithful to the interests of the Dutch settlers and the Mo- 
hawks, and was aware of the presence in the valley of Count 
Frontenac's half-caste daughter, and of the efforts of the count 
to recover her. 



io8 The Mohawk Valley 

Previous to the expedition of the French against the Onon- 
dagas, Hanyost had a difficulty with an Indian trapper which 
had been referred for arbitration to the young Mohawk chief, 
Achawi (settler of disputes) and had felt aggrieved at the 
award that had been given against him. The scorn with which 
the young chief met his charge of unfairness stung him to the 
soul, but fearing the strong arm of the young savage he had 
nursed his revenge in secret. 

Hearing of the presence of Frontenac on the shores of Lake 
Ontario he deserted his friends and offered his services to the 
count as guide, at the same time informing him of the where- 
abouts of his daughter and her husband. 

Achawi, ignorant of the hostile force that had entered his 
country, was off with his party at a summer camp near Kon- 
nediega, or Trenton Falls. Hanyost having informed the com- 
mander of the French forces that by surprising this party he 
would be able to recover his long-lost daughter, Frontenac at 
once detached a small but efficient force from the main body 
of the army to strike the blow. It is said that a dozen mus- 
keteers, with twenty-five pikemen led by Baron de Baken- 
court and Chevalier de Grais, the former having the chief 
command, were sent upon this duty, with Hanyost to guide 
them to the village of Achawi. 

Just before dawn of the second day, the party found 
themselves in the neighborhood of the Indian village, and at 
once made preparations for an attack while yet the savages 
were wrapped in repose. 

The baron, after carefully examining the hilly passes, de- 
termined to head the attack, while Chevalier de Grais, with 
Han3^ost to mark out his prey, should pounce upon the chief- 
tain's wife. The followers were warned not to injure the 
female captives, but to give no quarter to their defenders. 

The inhabitants of the fated village, secure in their isolated 



Count Frontenac and the Mohawk Valley 109 

situation, had neglected all precautions against surprise, and 
were aroused from slumber with the whizzing of hand gre- 
nades, which set fire to the main row of frail wigwams which 
formed the little street, and kindled the dry mats stretched 
over them into instant flames. And then, as the startled 
warriors leaped, all naked and unarmed from the blazing lodges, 
they found themselves surrounded by the French pikemen. 
Waiting only for a volley from the musketeers, the soldiers 
rushed upon the wretched savages, slaughtering them. Many 
there were, however, who, with Achawi at their head, acquit- 
ted themselves like warriors. Snatching their weapons from 
the flames, they sprang upon the pikemen Vv^ith irresistible 
fury. Their heavy war-clubs beat down and splintered the 
fragile spears of the Frenchmen, while their corselets rang with 
the blows of tomahawk and knife. 

De Grais, in the meantime, watched the shrieking forms of 
the females, expecting each moment to see the pale features 
of the Christian captive. The Mohawks began now to wage a 
more successful resistance, and just when the fight was raging 
hottest he saw a tall warrior disengage himself from the 
melee and dash upon and brain, with his tomahawk, a French- 
man who had also separated himself from his party. The 
quick eye of De Grais caught a glimpse of a lithe female form, 
with an infant in her arms, in pursuit of whom the luckless 
Frenchman met his death by the strong arm of Achawi. It 
was the wife of Achawi fleeing to the hills for safety. De 
Grais raised his pistol to fire at the chieftain, when the track 
of the flying girl brought her directly in his line of sight, and 
he held his fire. 

Achawi, in the meantime, had been cut off from his people 
by the soldiers, who closed in upon the space which his terri- 
ble arm had a moment before kept open. Seeing the hopeless- 
ness of his position, he made a dash at his foes with his 



no The Mohawk Valley 

war-club, fairly cleaving a path to his fleeing wife, and with 
arms outstretched to protect her from the dropping shots of the 
enemy, he bounded after her, and before De Grais and Han- 
yost, with seven others fairly got in pursuit, Achawi, who still 
kept behind his wife, was far in advance of the pursuing party. 
Her forest training had made Oneta fleet of foot, and hearing 
the cheering voice of her loved warrior behind her, she urged 
her flight over crag and fell, and soon reached the head of a 
rocky pass which it would take some moments for any but an 
American forester to climb. Lifting his wife to the ledge 
above, he placed her infant in her arms, and bade her speed 
her way to the cavern among the hills, Achawi looked a mo- 
ment after her retreating form, and then coolly swung himself 
to the ledge which commanded the pass. His tomahawk and 
war-club had been lost in the strife, but he still carried at his 
back his bow and quiver. There were but three arrows in the 
quiver, and the Mohawk was determined to have the life of an 
enemy in exchange for each of them. 

Placing himself behind a rock that partly concealed his 
form, he strung his bow, and fitting an arrow to the string, he 
aimed at the foremost soldier that was climbing the crags be- 
low. With the swiftness of a bullet the arrow took its flight 
and buried itself in the throat of its victim, who fell, dislodg- 
ing two of his comrades in his fall, and temporarily checking 
pursuit. Achawi, waiting until the soldiers were again ad- 
vancing, sent another arrow in their midst, with almost the 
same result. Fitting his last arrow to the string, he raised his 
bow, but before he could fire, a shot from the gun of Hanyost 
struck his thumb, disabling it. Again fleeing, he took a 
different direction from that taken by his wife, hoping to draw 
the soldiers in pursuit of himself until she should reach a place 
of safety. After a while he observed that three of the soldiers 
were following him, while De Grais, Hanyost, and one of the 



Count Frontenac and the Mohawk Valley 1 1 1 

pikemen were taking a direct route to the cavern, with Han- 
yost in the lead, who was undoubtedly aware of the situation 
of this hidden rendezvous, and rightly guessed the ruse of 
Achawi. 

The young Mohawk at once saw the object of Hanyost, 
and quick as thought took a few steps within the thicket to 
still mislead his pursuers, bounded across a mountain torrent, 
leaving his footmarks in its banks, and then turned shortly on 
a rock beyond, re-crossed the stream, and concealed himself 
behind a fallen tree, until his pursurers had passed by on the 
false trail. A rocky hillock now only divided him from the 
point to which he had directed his wife by another route, and 
to which Hanyost and his party were urging their way. 
Springing from crag to crag, the hunted warrior at last planted 
his foot on the roots of a blasted oak, that shot its h"mbs above 
the cavern, just as his wife, with her babe clasped to her 
bosom, sank exhausted within the shadows of the cavern. 
Looking down, he saw De Grais and his followers making a 
laborious ascent of the crags below, with Hanyost in advance, 
and De Grais and the mustketeer close behind. The scout, 
who had evidently caught sight of the exhausted female at 
the mouth of the cavern, gave an exultant cry. 

God help thee, bold archer! the game of life is nearly up; 
thy quiver is empty. In his agony at the thought of his wife, 
he raised his bow and became aware that the forgotten arrow 
was clasped in his bleeding fingers. Although his stiffened 
thumb forbade its use, Achawi fitted the remaining arrow to 
the string, prepared to take the life of one more of his enemies 
if possible. Bracing his knee upon the flinty rock, while the 
muscles of his body swelled as if all of its energies were em- 
bodied in this supreme effort, he drew the arrow back with his 
two fingers, without the use of his bleeding thumb, and aimed 
at the treacherous scout. The twanging bowstring dismissed 



112 The Mohawk Valley 

his last arrow straight to the heart of Hanj'ost. The dying 
wretch clutched the sword chain of De Grais, and the two 
went rolling down the glen together; and De Grais was not 
"unwilling to abandon the pursuit when the musketeer, hasten- 
ing to his assistance, had disengaged him, bruised and 
bloody, from the rigid embrace of the corpse. 

Achawi, descending from his cavern, collected the rem- 
nants of his band and wreaked terrible vengeance upon the 
murderers, most of whom they cut off before they could join 
the main body of the French army. 

Count Frontenac returned to Canada and died in 1698, and 
the existence of his half-caste daughter was soon forgotten. 



Chapter VIII 
Sir William Johnson 

IN examining the early records of history, particularly the 
colonial and documentary history of New York, I was 
impressed with the fact that Sir William Johnson filled 
a very large place in the history of the colony between 
1740 and the time of his death in 1774. 

We are apt to connect Sir William's life with Johnstown, 
N. Y., and forget that although he founded and practically 
created the village that was named for him, he lived there 
only eleven years, during which time he was occupied in 
building up the village, erecting churches, court-house, jail, 
and his own spacious mansion. 

But in fact twenty-four years of his manhood were passed 
in this valley, and for twenty of those years he lived in the old 
stone mansion sometimes called Mount Johnson, and now 
called Fort Johnson, within a mile of the city of Amsterdam. 

It was probably here that his wife, Catherine Weisenberg, 
died, but the date is not known. It was from a Mr. Phillips 
who lived opposite Cranesville, that he purchased the Ger- 
man girl who afterward became his wife and the mother of his 
legitimate children. Sir William came to the valley in 1738, 
and soon after purchased the German girl Catherine for a 
housekeeper. They were probably married by the Rev. Dr. 
Henry Barclay, then the rector in charge of Queen Anne's 
Chapel at Fort Hunter. In 1742 his son, John Johnson, was 
born, probably in Warrensbush, as Sir Peter Warren's estate 

113 



114 The Mohawk Valley 

of fourteen thousand acres in the present town of Florida was 
then called. 

It was in Fort Johnson, built in 1743, that Molly Brant 
presided as mistress and it was here that most of the confer- 
ences with the Iroquois were held and here Sir William 
gained influence over them on account of his kind and strictly 
honorable treatment of those warlike tribes. It was here that 
he was made superintendent of the Indians and, in 1746, in- 
vested by the Mohawks with the rank of a chief of that nation. 
In Indian costume he shortly after led the tribe to a council 
at Albany. 

It was at this house in 1755 that he held a council with the 
Iroquois which resulted in about two hundred and fifty of 
their warriors following him to victory over the French at the 
battle of Lake George. 

It was from this mansion that most of the letters on col- 
onial affairs were written by Sir William to His Majesty King 
George II. and to the governor of the colony and the lords of 
the board of trade. 

Here also were born his two daughters, Nancy and Mary. 

Whatever may be said of Sir William's private life, no one 
can read those letters without being impressed with the honesty 
of purpose of the writer. 

While frauds were being practised on the Indians by the 
land-grabbing officials at Albany and elsewhere, Johnson, was 
firm in his desire that the Iroquois should not be cheated but 
should be dealt with justly. And while fraudulent grants, like 
the seven hundred thousand acres Kayaderosseras grant, were 
obtained with ease, he would not claim or occupy any land 
that was not justly granted to him by his friends the Indians. 

We remember Sir William Johnson as a loyalist, and as a 
friend of the savages who a little later spread terror through- 
out the Mohawk Valley. But we must not forget that Sir 




SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON, BART., I715-I774 



"5 



Sir William Johnson 117 

William Johnson died in 1774, and that it was Sir John John- 
son and Col. Guy Johnson and the Butlers who were respon- 
sible for many of the savage acts of the Indians in the 
Mohawk Valley and vicinity, and that it was Col. Guy John, 
son, the founder of Guy Park, who alienated the Six Nations 
from the colonists. 

In reading the acts of Sir William and becoming ac- 
quainted with his character as it shows forth in his letters, I 
do not hesitate to say that if he had lived and sided with the 
colonists, his name would have been written on the pages of 
history side by side with that of George Washington and other 
heroes of the Revolution. 

In Frothingham's history of Montgomery County is found 
the following paragraph: 

Had Sir William lived it is confidently believed he would have 
espoused the cause of the colonies against the mother country, in 
which event one of the most magnificent estates in the country 
would have been confirmed to him, but his successors, and particu- 
larly his son John, allied themselves to the British, and as a result 
the estate was confiscated and sold for the public benefit. 

Sir John Johnson, who occupied Fort Johnson after Sir 
William moved to Johnson Hall, Johnstown, in 1763, was a 
man of different character from his father. He and his 
brothers-in-law, Guy Johnson and Daniel Claus, were crea- 
tures of the King, having no sentiment in common with the 
people. " He was a bloodthirsty and relentless enemy, com- 
bining the worst elements of toryism with the inhuman meth- 
ods of war only resorted to by savages." 

Simms says: " He was not the amiable-tempered, social, 
and companionable man his father was and hence was not the 
welcome guest in all society that his father had been." 

In early life, while living at Fort Johnson, he wooed, won, 
but did not wed Miss Clara Putnam, a very pretty girl of good 



1 18 The Mohawk Valley 

family at Tribes Hill, by whom he had two children, a son 
and a daughter. Miss Putnam was keeping house for him at 
the old Fort Johnson mansion when he married Miss Mary 
Watts, of New York City, on June 29, 1773, but before his re- 
turn from New York Miss Putnam and her children were sent 
into the town of Florida. The son, when he grew up, was 
nicely established by his father in some kind of business in 
Canada, and the daughter, who was said to have been a tall, 
beautiful girl, and at one time quite a belle in the valley, mar- 
ried a James Van Home, by whom she had one or more chil- 
dren. She had dark hair and dark eyes, was brunette in 
complexion, and was graceful in her carriage. Only a few 
years after her marriage, while visiting friends at Tribes Hill, 
she ate too freely of fruit, became sick, and died suddenly, 
universally lamented. 

Late in life Sir John Johnson (he was sixty-seven years 
old) sent word to Miss Clara Putnam to come to Canada at a 
certain time (which was chosen in the absence of his wife), and 
he would give her some property. She went in the summer 
of 1809. He at that time gave her $1200 in money and pur- 
chased a house and lot for her in Schenectady. She died about 
the year 1840. 

In Griffis's Life of Sir William JoJinson we find the follow- 
ing account of " the brown Lady Johnson." 

After the death of his wife, Catherine, Sir William lived 
with various mistresses, as tradition avers, but after a year or 
two of such life, dismissed them for a permanent housekeeper — 
Molly Brant, the sister of Joseph Brant, the noted Indian chief. 

According to the local traditions of the valley, Johnson 
first met the pretty squaw when about sixteen years old at a 
militia muster at or near Fort Johnson. In jest, she asked an 
officer to let her ride behind him. He assented, returning 
fun for fun. To his surprise she leaped like a wild cat upon 



."¥»-^»jy<»qww*-- 



5 ;"■' -■ '■ii^^^f^'?<^f.'^^ 





A WINDOW IN THE OLD CHURCH AT 0P:R.MAN ILATTS 



119 



Sir William Johnson 121 

the space behind the saddle, holding on tightly, with hair fly- 
ing and garments flapping, while the excited horse dashed 
over the parade ground. The crowd enjoyed the sight, but 
the most interested spectator was Sir William, who, admiring 
her spirit, resolved to make her his paramour. 

From this time Molly Brant, the handsome squaw, was 
Johnson's companion. Molly Brant was undoubtedly a 
woman of ability, and with her Johnson lived happily. She 
presided over Fort Johnson and later Johnson Hall at Johns- 
town, and became the mother of a large brood of his natural 
children, and as " the brown Lady Johnson " she was always 
treated with respect by the white guests and visitors. 

While Molly Brant presided over the mansion, and her 
dusky children attended the manor school, the daughters of 
Johnson and Catherine Weisenberg, Nancy and Mary, were 
trained under the care of a governess, who made them ac- 
quainted with the social graces of London and the standard 
literature of England.' 

Nancy, his first daughter, married a son of a German Pala- 
tine and a noted Indian fighter named Daniel Claus, in July, 
1762. Mary married her cousin, Guy, a nephew of Sir Wil- 
liam, and later Colonel Guy Johnson, in 1763. 

The mansion now known as Guy Park in the western part 
of the city of Amsterdam was built for Colonel Guy and his 
wife by Sir William in 1766, and was occupied by them until 
their removal to Canada during the Revolution. 

' These two daughters, who were left by their dying mother to the care of a 
friend, were educated almost in solitude. They were carefully instructed in 
religious duties, and in various kinds of needlework, but were themselves kept 
entirely from society. At the age of sixteen they had never seen a lady, except 
their mother and her friend (who was the widow of an English officer), or a gen- 
tleman except Sir William, who visited their room daily. Their dress was not 
conformed to the fashions, but always consisted of wrappers of finest chintz over 
green silk petticoats. Their hair, which was long and beautiful, was tied with a 
simple band of ribbon. After their marriage they soon acquired the habits of 
society, and made excellent wives. — Lossing. 



122 The Mohawk Valley 

A mansion not quite as pretentious was built for Colonel 
Claus and wife about a mile east of Fort Johnson. It was 
located opposite the present Boulevard Hotel. The house 
was burned down subsequently, but the ruins of the founda- 
tion and the old brick oven were to be seen up to within a few 
years. Subsequently a tavern was erected on the same lot and 
on part of the old foundation, and was known as the Charley 
Chase Hotel. All trace of this old building is entirely 
obliterated. 

Since writing the above, accident has thrown in my way 
some new material in reference to the family of Sir William 
Johnson. The facts were transmitted to me by one of the 
descendants, a man of undoubted ability and probity of char- 
acter, and they furnish a missing link between Catherine Weis- 
enberg and Molly Brant. It seems that Molly Brant had a 
predecessor in the affections of Sir William, in the grand- 
daughter or grand-niece of King Hendrick. She bore to Sir 
William two daughters, and died in childbirth with a third, in 
1753. This woman took the English name of Caroline, and 
her daughters were named Charlotte and Caroline. Charlotte 
Johnson married Henry Randall, a subaltern in the King's 
Royal Provincial Regiment, about two years before the war of 
the Revolution. When the war came on he resigned from 
the King's service and entered Schuyler's Regiment of Militia. 
He afterwards joined Clinton's Regiinent of Continentals, and 
was killed at Monmouth Court House. Charlotte accom- 
panied her husband to Albany, turning her back forever on 
her kith and kin. She had two children, one named Charlotte 
Randall, who married George King. They had a daughter, 
Charlotte King, who was the grandmother of my informant. 
The other daughter of Sir William Johnson by Molly Brant's 
predecessor, named Caroline, is said to have married Walter N. 
Butler, who was killed at West Canada Creek in 1781. 



Chapter IX 
Guy Park and Fort Johnson 

SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON, when he built Guy Park 
mansion for his nephew, Guy Johnson, and his wife, 
Mary, the second daughter of Sir WilHam, set apart 
a mile square of his large tract of land to be connected 
therewith. The easterly line of this farm formerly extended 
to the sand hole on West Main Street and the westerly line 
to the creek that runs into the river near Steadwell Avenue 
in the citj^ of Amsterdam. He also gave to his daughter 
Nancy, the wife of Colonel Daniel Glaus, a similar tract of 
land, extending from said creek west, until it met the mile 
square of the Fort Johnson farm at Dove Creek, which runs 
from a ravine through Jacob Lepper's farm, near the brick 
schoolhouse on the turnpike at Fort Johnson. 

It is of this ravine that I wish to speak at this time. The 
mouth of this gorge has, in the course of many years, been 
widened by the stream spoken of (which at times becomes a 
furious torrent), leaving a fertile flat of a number of acres, pro- 
tected from the storms and cold winds by the hills and forests 
which almost surround it ; but being open to the south, it re- 
ceives the benefit of the light and heat of the sun, tempered 
somewhat by cool breezes which blow from the upper ravine 
in the rear. The hills on the west are at an elevation of about 
two hundred feet above the Mohawk River, being on the five- 
hundred-feet level. North of the flat the creek winds through 
these wooded hills with many an abrupt turn. 

123 



124 The Mohawk Valley 

Crossing the creek to the western bank, in a recent visit to 
this place, we ascended to the highest point of the hills on the 
west, with " painful steps and slow," and were well repaid 
for our labor. We found ourselves on a comparatively level 
plateau, except that at the outer edge of one side is a higher 
ridge extending north and south, while from the outer edge of 
this ridge is a very steep declivity to the creek far down below. 
This ridge has long been known as an Indian burying-ground, 
on account of the mounds that were scattered over its surface. 
But instead of mounds we found excavations, and from the 
nature of the holes we were somewhat in doubt whether to 
call them graves or cornpits. By cutting into the side of one 
of the excavations (which was about three feet deep and 
straight down) we laid bare a strata of discolored earth, mixed 
with bits of charcoal. The plateau is surrounded by steep de- 
clivities except at one point, where it connects with the 
cleared farm land to the west. From the ridge spoken of, 
there are three separate " hogsbacks " lunning to the west, 
north, and northeast, and extending to the creek, which 
makes a sharp turn to the west at this point. Although these 
ridges are found on nearly every ancient Indian site, with a 
trail leading from the top of a hill to a ravine below, it is hard 
to believe that the acclivity of their trails could be more inac- 
cessible than those spoken of above. The ridges are from ten 
to twenty feet high, and about two feet broad on top, but are so 
steep that great danger would attend any attempt to descend 
from above without flexible shoes or bare feet and a very 
steady head. 

Our guide, Mr. Jacob Lepper, informed us that he had 
been familiar with this spot from boyhood, and that the 
mounds were plainly discernible the last time he visited this 
spot, about six years ago. The numerous excavations that we 
found would seem to indicate that an extended examination 




AN ATTIC CORNER, GLKN-SAN1)ER^^ iHIUSE, SCHENECTADY 



125 



Guy Park and Fort Johnson 127 

had been made, but by whom, or with what results, I have 
been unable to ascertain. The cultivated plateau to the west 
comprises the farms of John and Spencer Sweet. Many relics 
have been found on these farms, particularly in a field north 
of the farm buildings. 

Mr. John Sweet exhibited to me quite a number of pre- 
historic relics which were the remnants of an extensive collec- 
tion gathered by his father in the early years of his life, one 
of which was a half of a gorget, or banner stone, as the cere- 
monial stones are called. The fragment was about four inches 
long and two inches wide, of highly polished variegated stone, 
and when whole must have resembled a butterfly with its wings 
spread, a hole one-half inch in diameter extending lengthwise 
through that part which would represent the body of the 
insect. Numerous arrow-points, drills, and spears of flint 
were also in the collection. 

Returning through the wood from the ridge, we passed to 
a lower level, which has the appearance of having been partly 
cleared, and were shown a partially walled-up excavation 
about fifteen feet square, evidently the cellar of a primitive 
log cabin of some early hunter or pioneer. Near by, in a ra- 
vine, is an excellent spring, which probably furnished water to 
this lone resident of the forest. 

It is known that large numbers of Indians of the Six Na- 
tions frequently visited Sir William Johnson at Fort Johnson, 
many of whom undoubtedly found rude shelter on the flats 
and in the woods around his mansion, but it must be remem- 
bered that the savage visitors, at that period, had been 
familiar with firearms and metal tools for more than a century, 
and the finding of rude flint implements in this locality would 
seem to indicate a previous occupation. The surroundings are 
of the character usually chosen by the Mohawks for their vil- 
lages and hunting-grounds, namely, streams, springs, wooded 



128 The Mohawk Valley 

hills, and extensive flats for their rude husbandry. The only 
ford across the Mohawk for miles east or west in close prox- 
imity to the valley of the Kayaderos Creek, together with the 
extensive flat lands in this vicinity and fertile islands in mid- 
stream, vv'ould also seem to point to this locality as a place of 
probable occupation by the early Mohawks, although it may 
or may not have been a palisaded castle. 

All the land from Steadwell Avenue for six miles along the 
Mohawk west and for a mile and a half north was comprised 
in what was called the Wilson and Abeel patent. This 
patent was one of the earliest transfers of land in the town of 
Amsterdam, being dated February 22, 1706. This property 
came into the hands of William Johnson soon after he estab- 
lished "Johnson settlement" (afterwards Warrensbush) on 
the south bank of the Mohawk, about one-half mile below the 
river bridge at Amsterdam, in 1738. 

It would seem from a letter to his uncle and patron. Sir 
Peter Warren, dated May 10, 1739, that his purchase was 
made previous to that date, and that it displeased Sir Peter, 
who feared he would remove there and neglect the store at 
the settlement, 

Johnson wrote to him that he had no design of removing 
to his new purchase, having made it, he said, for the purpose 
of securing a valuable water-power, on which he proposed 
erecting a grist mill. In less than three years, however, 
Johnson erected the Fort Johnson mansion and removed his 
family to it. 

The first covering to the roof of Fort Johnson was prob- 
ably of shingles, as Johnson did not order the lead covering, 
which was purchased in London, until the year 1749. When- 
ever I look at that old stone building, my thoughts revert to 
the time when, as a young man of twenty-four years, he 
selected this spot to build himself a home, and I wonder, for 



Guy Park and Fort Johnson 131 

whom did he build it ? Was it for Catherine, his housekeeper, 
or maid-of-all-vvork, to whom, at this period, he was not 
married, or was it for a home for the young girl he loved in 
the little Irish town which was his birthplace ? 

In the early years of his manhood he had fallen in love 
with a pretty Irish girl. History is silent about her name or 
family. We are merely told that " at the age of twenty-two 
he fell in love with a young girl whom his parents would not 
permit him to marry." Sir Peter Warren, his uncle, hearing 
of his experience, offered him the position of agent of his re- 
cently acquired estate on the Mohawk River, comprising what 
is now known as the town of Florida. Perhaps this offer 
came when he was depressed at the thought of never being 
able to marry the girl of his choice, and in a fit of despon- 
dency he accepted it as an opportunity to bury himself in the 
wilds of the New World, and perhaps make for himself a name 
and a fortune. He is described as being a tall, robust young 
man, full of animal life and spirits, manly and commanding 
in his deportment. Arriving at the port of New York, in 
1738, he immediately found his way to the valley of the Mo- 
hawk, and the same year erected a storehouse and dwelling on 
his uncle's estate, near the present residence of Walter Major, 
east of the river bridge in the city of Amsterdam. It was to 
this dweUing that he brought Catherine Weisenberg, whom he 
had purchased of his neighbor, Lewis Phillips, for sixteen 
pounds. It is said that at some period before her death he 
married her, but no record of their marriage has ever been 
found, although he speaks of her in his will as my beloved 
wife Catherine. 

The old building at Fort Johnson stands to-day, a monu- 
ment to the pluck, energy, and ambition of young William 
Johnson, and will undoubtedly remain as such after his 
wooden baronial mansion at Johnstown has crumbled to dust. 



132 The Mohawk Valley 

Very few historians have given any extended account of his 
early life at Warrensbush ; in fact, very little is known, except 
what can be gathered from a few letters from his uncle, Sir 
Peter Warren. That he erected a storehouse at Warrensbush 
and engaged in trade with the Indians and white settlers, is 
well known, and that he also had charge of the estate, and oc- 
cupied himself in selling lots or farms, and in the arduous 
labor of clearing the land of the forests, are matters of record. 
From a letters dated Boston, November 20, 1738, from Sir 
Peter to William Johnson, we learn that in addition to form- 
ing settlements for his uncle, he was also clearing land for 
himself. The letter advises him that, " the smaller the farms, 
the more land that will be sold, and the better the improve- 
ment will be. I hope you will plant an orchard in the 
spring." " As you have great help now, you will girdle many 
trees." In a note in W. L. Stone's Life of SirWilliani JoJin- 
son, the method of gridling trees is described : 

The operation consists in making a deep circular cut around the 
trunk of large trees, which draws off the sap and causes the trees 
to die in the course of a couple of years. The trunks and limbs 
becoming dry, are readily subject to the action of fire, and the 
foresters are thereby often relieved of much heavy labor, while by 
the absence of foliage, the earth has already been partially warmed 
by the sun, and is in respect of decaying roots, rendered much 
easier of cultivation. 

One of the sources of revenue of the colonist was potash, 
obtained by burning forest trees that were cut down to clear 
the land, and leaching the wood ashes. An average of two 
tons to the acre was obtained. A market for the potash was 
found in Europe, at a fair price. 

Both W. L. Stone and W. S. Griffis made statements in 
regard to William Johnson at this period of his life which are 
not correct. Stone merely quotes from a statement made by 



Guy Park and Fort Johnson 133 

the late Thomas Sammons, but does not endorse it. Sam- 
mons's statement, which Griffis repeats, was that " young 
Johnson was wont to ride to mill on horseback to Caughna- 
waga, distant from Warrensbush fifteen miles," Griffis 
writes of this period: " That his [Johnson's] eye was keenly 
open to every new advantage or possibility of progress was 
seen in his buying, as early as 1739, after one year's residence 
in the valley, a lot of land across the Mohawk [the Fort 
Johnson property] on which ran a stream of water, the Chuc- 
tanunda Creek [?],with abundance of potential mill power. To 
ride horseback with bags fifteen miles to Caughnawaga [?] 
every time meal was needed, was too much loss of time." 
The facts are these : Lewis Groot's mill at Cranesville was only 
two miles from Warrensbush, and was established in 1730. 
Caughnawaga was only ten miles away, instead of fifteen, and 
did not have a grist mill until after 175 1, which was the date 
that Dowe Fonda moved from Schenectady to the place after- 
wards known as Dutch Caughnawaga. As Johnson erected his 
grist mill at Fort Johnson in 1744, and Groot's mill, built in 
1730, the only grist mill west of the Schenectady patent, was 
only two miles away, it is plain that Griffis's statements are 
somewhat mixed. 

The settlement on the Kayaderos Creek was formerly 
called Mount Johnson, but when the place was threatened by 
the French, in 1755, it was fortified, and in 1756 named Fort 
Johnson. During the last few years the place has been called 
Akin, While we can appreciate the desire of a family to per- 
petuate its name, we cannot help a feeling of regret that this 
old, historic spot, from which Sir William Johnson ruled the 
savage Iroquois, does not continue to bear the name which he 
gave it, and by which it was known for a century and a half. 

It was on these flats that William Johnson first met Molly 
Brant (whose home was at the Canajoharie Castle). W. L. 



134 The Mohawk Valley 

Stone gives the date of this meeting as 1746, Griffis, 1759. 
The former date is nearer correct. Stone assumes that Cath- 
erine was dead at that date, because she was not mentioned 
in a letter written by Mr. James Wilson, of Albany, dated 
November 26, 1745, inviting William Johnson to make his 
home at his (Wilson's) mother's house, until all fears of 
French invasion were dispelled. Stone says: " The entire 
silence of this letter in regard to Mrs. Johnson, and the ap- 
propriation of only a single room for his occupancy, induces 
the supposition that she must have died previous to the time 
when it was written. Still this is merely conjectural, and, to 
say the truth, but little can be ascertained respecting Mr- 
Johnson's domestic relations for several years of this portion 
of his life. 

An examination of the records at the Montgomery County 
clerk's office at Fonda, in order to ascertain what disposition 
was made of the lands of Sir John Johnson, Colonel Guy 
Johnson, and Daniel Claus, reveals the following facts: First, 
that the Guy Park mile square was formerly the Hoofe patent, 
granted to Henry Hoofe December 12, 1727, and the Daniel 
Claus property and the Fort Johnson mile square were parts 
of the Wilson and Abeel patent, granted to Ebenezer Wilson 
and John Abeel, the father of the celebrated half-breed Corn- 
planter who was on General Washington's staff during the 
Revolution. This patent was granted February 22, 1706, but 
it is thought that the patentees did not settle on it. The 
records show that it was subsequently included in the Kings- 
land or Royal Grant to Sir William Johnson. 

We are unable to find the name of the purchaser of the 
Fort Johnson property from the commissioners of forfeiture, 
but we find that in 1800 the property belonged to Jacob C. 
Cuyler and John C. Cuyler, who sold to Jeremiah Schuyler 
on February 22, 18 17. Schuyler conveyed to John J. Van 



Guy Park and Fort Johnson 137 

Schaick, January 8, 1820; Van Schaick to George Maxwell, 
December 14, 1824; Maxwell to George Smith, January 26, 
1826. George Smith died intestate August 26, 1828; the 
property was then divided into nine parcels and all sold be- 
tween 1836 and 1844. 

The Fort Johnson mansion and the land adjoining was pur- 
chased by Dr. Oliver Davidson, and subsequently sold to 
Almarin Young, who afterwards sold it to the present owner, 
Ethan Akin. 

The Daniel Glaus property, which embraced about eight 
hundred acres, was sold by the commissioner of forfeiture to 
James Caldwell, October 16, 1786, 

Guy Park was conveyed by the commissioners to John 
Taylor and James Caldwell, who conveyed to Daniel Miles, 
July 6, 1790; Miles conveyed to Sarah and James McGorck 
in 1800 ; McGorck to John V. Henry in 1805 ; John V. Henry 
to Henry Bayard; Bayard to James Stewart in 1845 ^^ 4^- 

After the flight of the Johnsons and previous to the act of 
attainder and confiscation in 1779, the Fort Johnson mansion 
was occupied by Albert H. Vedder, the Daniel Claus residence 
by Col. John Harper, and Guy Park by Henry Kennedy. 

Guy Park was built in 1766 and was originally constructed 
of wood. It is said that this building was burned by being 
struck by lightning and was replaced with the present stone 
structure or, rather, the main part of it. In general appearance 
and construction it was similar to the mansion at Fort John- 
son, being well built with irregular blocks of limestone and the 
usual substantial walls, having the deep recessed windows that 
are so often seen in Colonial buildings. The roof was four 
square and must have had the same appearance as the former 
roof of Queen Anne's parsonage at Fort Hunter. The ap- 
pearance of the front and rear of the house was similar, both 
having a long, wide piazza. A wide hall ran through the 



138 The Mohawk Valley 

centre of the house, broad, winding stairs leading to the broad 
hall of the floor above. The rooms were spacious and well 
finished, with panelled wainscoting, and must have impressed 
the beholder in those primitive days with the thought of 
grandeur. We may try as much as we can to imagine that it 
was constructed on the same general plan as Fort Johnson, 
still there was something about its proportions that must have 
made it more pleasing to the eye than that sombre building. 

Mr. James Stewart must have been a man of taste, and 
had a proper conception of the fitness of things when he made 
the necessary changes in the building after purchasing it. 
While retaining the old building he made such changes and 
additions to it that to-day it is one of the most attractive and 
I might say the only colonial mansion in the Mohawk Valley, 
There are a few other old buildings, but none of them impresses 
one at once with both age and beauty as this one does. 
Surrounded as it is by green fields and stately elms, and with a 
background of the Mohawk with its wooded islands and the 
hills with their evergreen slopes, one would almost expect to 
see the birchen canoe of the painted Mohawk gliding by, or 
hear the war cry of the Algonquin in the woods in the rear, 
were it not for the rattle and roar and rumble of the Empire 
State express, while the West Shore on the opposite bank 
adds to the uproar with shrieks that would make the red man 
green with envy. 

J. R. Simms, in Frontiersmen, speaks of a visit to this 
building and of a conversation with Henry Bayard in 1846, 
who was then the owner and occupant. " After the revolu- 
tion it was for years a public house known as a stage house. 
The front room on the east side of the hall was the bar room. 
While occupied as an inn the house was literally surrounded 
by sheds — a custom of the times — to accommodate the large 
wagons then transporting merchandise and produce." 



Guy Park and Fort Johnson 139 

The building is said to have been built by mechanics from 
Europe, probably by Samuel Fuller, the architect of Johnson 
Hall, Johnstown. 

Tradition says that in one of the rooms at Guy Park a 
ghost resembling the then deceased wife of Guy Johnson oc- 
casionally appeared, to the great annoyance of the credulous 
Kennedy family. Even in the daytime they were more than 
once alarmed. About this time a German, a stranger to the 
family, called there and seemed very much interested in the 
ghost story and expressed a willingness to pass the night in 
the " spook room," asking if the spook resembled Guy John- 
son's wife. Being told that it did and receiving permission to 
occupy the room at night he retired early, saying that he was 
well armed. Before daylight a commotion was heard in the 
haunted room followed by the report of a pistol. 

The family thus aroused procured a light and upon enter- 
ing the room found the stranger up and dressed. He de- 
clared he had seen or heard the ghost and had discharged his 
pistol at it. He concluded that he would not go to bed 
again, ordered his horse and left before daylight, saying on 
his departure that the family would not again be annoyed by 
that ghost, and it never was. 

The mystery of the ghost has been thus explained. Many 
valuable articles were undoubtedly left behind by the Tories 
in their hurried flight to Canada, who expected to soon return 
and recover them, but when they found the prospect of return 
cut off they attempted to obtain them through the mystery 
of superstition. An attempt was made by a female agent, 
who was thought to be the ghost of Guy Johnson's wife, to 
obtain possession of family treasures by taking advantage of 
the credulity of the occupants of the building, but she not 
succeeding a male agent was employed with greater success. 
Through Mrs. James Stewart, in 1879, ^^' Simms, in company 



HO The Mohawk Valley 

with Geo. S. Devendorf, obtained a key to this mystery. 
On the west side of the hall were two rooms. In the corner 
room on its west side was a fireplace of the large old- 
fashioned kind, and on each side of it the room was wains- 
coted in panels from floor to ceiling. The space over the 
mantel was also covered with carved panelling. In this ceiling, 
on each side of the fireplace, were small closets several inches 
deep and several feet long with a door which closed with a 
secret spring. In one or both of these, it is supposed, were 
placed some valuable papers and jewelry, of which the 
stranger was undoubtedly aware, and was also familiar with 
the secret spring. Having once gained access to the room and 
obtaining possession of the treasures he departed, and having 
no more use for the ghost it departed also. 

When Mr. James Stewart remodelled that part of the 
house the chimney was removed and with it the ceiling, 
not only disclosing but forever destroying those little secret 
chambers. 

The floors of this building are all of pitch pine and the 
house for the period was exceedingly well constructed. It is 
said that at a subsequent period a quantity of leaden window 
weights were found buried in the orchard west of the house 
probably put there to prevent the Whigs from using them 
to mould into bullets. 

Mary Johnson, daughter of Sir William, married Lieut. 
Guy Johnson in the spring of 1763. He was born in Ireland, 
was a nephew of the baronet and came to live with him early 
in life. He was long associated with Sir William as his dep- 
uty; and was made commissioner of the Indians at Sir Wil- 
liam's death in 1774. He, too, went to Canada prior to the 
flight of Sir John and his retainers. He died in London 
March 5, 1788, whither he had gone in straitened circum- 
stances to petition for relief, in lieu of his forfeited estates in 



Guy Park and Fort Johnson 141 

Tryon County. His wife is said to have died in Canada a 
short time after she went there. 

An item in the will of Sir William Johnson defines the wes- 
tern boundary of the original Guy Park mile square and the 
eastern and western boundary of Colonel Claus's estate. He 
bequeaths to " Daniel Claus the tract of land where he now 
lives, viz., from Dove Kill to the creek which lies about four 
hundred yards to the northward (westward) of the now dwel- 
ling-place of Colonel Guy Johnson." (The Guy Park man- 
sion.) About eight hundred acres. 

The creek called Dove Kill crosses the turnpike near the 
residence of Obediah Wilde at Fort Johnson, the other creek 
spoken of (which had been erroneously called Dove Creek) 
runs near the dwelling-place of the late Abram Marcellus on 
the Boulevard. 

The Fort Johnson tract w^as originally a mile square and 
was conveyed as such by the successive owners until after 
1836, when it was divided by the heirs of George Smith into 
nine parcels and sold between 1836 and 1844. 

At present about twenty acres of land and the stone man- 
sion is all that is left of the Fort Johnson mile square. 

It is said that when the stone mansion was built in 1743 it 
was called Mount Johnson, at which time a grist mill was 
erected. A portion of the walls of this mill has in late years 
been incorporated in a part of the Morris mills in the rear of 
the Fort Johnson building. Harold Frederic's description (in 
his book In the Valley) of the place in 1757, after it was for- 
tified, is undoubtedly correct. He makes his hero say: " It 
could not be seen from the intervening hills, but so important 
was the fact of its presence to me that I never looked east- 
ward without seeming to behold its gray stone walls with their 
windows and loopholes, its stockade of logs, its two little 
houses on either side, its barracks for the guard upon the ridge 



142 The Mohawk Valley 

back of the grist mill, and its accustomed groups of grinning 
black slaves, all eyeballs and white teeth, of saturnine Indians 
in blankets, and of bold-faced traders," to say nothing of 
squaws and children. 

There were always plenty of squaws and children at the 
fort in war time, as Sir William often took care of the families 
of the warriors when they were on the war path. 

Did you ever hear of an Indian working ? Can you im- 
agine an Indian making mortar or carrying a hod or perhaps 
digging a trench ? 

An article in one of the daily papers, however, a few days 
ago, said that Poles and Indians were employed to pick the 
cranberry crop in Wisconsin. The Indians move their tepees 
and families, and were liked better as laborers than the Poles, 
because they took whatever pay was given them without 
grumbling, but would not begin work before nine o'clock and 
would quit at four, no matter how pressing the work was, and 
would pay no attention to the orders of the overseers. 

Fort Johnson has its ghost story also, although in this case 
its color was black instead of white, and is now supposed to 
have been one of Sir John Johnson's slaves, who probably re- 
turned to obtain valuables that had been left behind at the 
flight of the household. 

Mr. Almarin T. Young, who was born at Fort Johnson in 
1852, says that the northwest room in the rear of the house 
upstairs was always called the *' spook room," and as a child 
he never went inside of it. 

The interior and exterior are practically the same as when 
vacated by Sir John Johnson. Of course its stockade of logs 
that formerly surrounded the building and the two little forts 
in front were destroyed years ago, probably soon after the last 
French War, but the house presents the same appearance that 
it did when erected. The coverincf of the roof has been re- 



Guy Park and Fort Johnson 145 

placed by one of substantial slate, but the old timbers and the 
high peak and dormer windows with their small panes of glass 
have been retained. The size of the building is forty feet deep 
by sixty feet front and rear, two stories high, with lofty attic. 

A broad hall extends from front to rear, with large rooms 
on each side, which, together with the hall, are ceiled with pan- 
elled wainscoting. The stairs, with their slim balusters and 
diminutive hand rail of mahogany, would detract somewhat 
from the spacious hall and the grand room on the west, if we 
did not know that they were only another evidence of the 
colonial period. 

We can easily imagine such a building being presided over 
by a Dutch matron of colonial days, with snowy cap and ker- 
chief, but the thought of Molly Brant and her dusky brood 
and a crowd of her slovenly relatives scattered through these 
grand rooms seems somewhat out of place. 

One Sunday morning in December, when the sky was 
dropping huge flakes of snow, which vanished as they fell on 
the wet, muddy streets of the city, but emphasized the bright 
green of the belated spears of grass among which they lodged, 
I accepted the kind invitation of Mr. Theron Akin to visit the 
old Fort Johnson mansion left vacant by the family of his 
father, Mr. Ethan Akin, in its annual flitting to more con- 
genial quarters in New York City. 

On such an errand it would have been more in keeping, 
perhaps, if we had trudged along on foot or horseback, rather 
than to have taken passage in an electric car of the nineteenth 
century. Being a very stormy Sunday the little hamlet was 
quiet, and no human being was visible except ourselves when 
we passed the gate and up under the bare branches of the aged 
trees in the grove in front of the house, the gray walls of 
which frowned upon us as though they were aware of their 
antiquity. 



146 The Mohawk Valley 

Approaching the front of the house we paused a moment 
to gaze on the slab of brown stone in front of the main en- 
trance, the edges of which had been dressed by a carver's 
chisel into an ovolo moulding, giving the slab the appearance 
of having been prepared for the top of a small tomb or sarco- 
phagus such as are frequently seen in old cemeteries. For 
whom beside Catherine Weisenburg would Sir William have 
prepared this stone ? The man who discovers her grave (which 
is supposed to be somewhere near the west side of the build- 
ing) would deserve and receive the praise of the antiquarians 
of the Mohawk Valley. 

We enter the house from the rear or north side, and 
pass at once into a broad hall which extends from front to 
rear. We have heard no sound since alighting from the car, 
except our own voices, the swish of the waters of the Kaya- 
deros swelled to a torrent, the soughing of the trees, and 
the dismal drip, drip, drip of the storm without. The closed 
shutters, the dreary appearance of a house unoccupied, and 
the antique appearance of the surroundings carry me back a 
century and a quarter to the flight of the household of Sir 
John Johnson, and, as I become more accustomed to the dim 
light, I almost expect to see a scarlet coat with gilt lace and 
the blanket or moccasin of an Indian, hurriedly left behind. 

This hall is grand in its proportions, being thirty-five feet 
long, fifteen feet wide, and perhaps ten feet high, with pan- 
elled walls and broad oaken stairway with plain mahogany bal- 
luster and rail leading to the lofty attic above. 

The large room on the west side of the hall, with its lofty 
panelled walls and broad, deep windows, seems to have been, 
and undoubtedly was, a room built for Sir William's use, his 
reception-room. 

And I almost expected to see him seated at his desk in the 
centre, with implements of war and the chase adorning the 



Guy Park and Fort Johnson 149 

walls, giving audience to the rude soldiers and savages of 
those primitive days. Opposite this room is another room of 
nearly the same dimensions, but having the appearance of be- 
ing designed for a parlor or drawing-room. Back of these 
rooms are two long, narrow rooms whose dimensions seem to 
have been sacrificed to swell the size of the grand rooms in 

front. 

The rooms and hall on the second floor correspond with 
those below except that the panelling is confined to one end 
of the room and forms closets on each side of the wide and 
deep chimney, and seems to suggest some secret recess or 
closets the same as were found in the Guy Park mansion. In 
the southeast room is found a quaint addition to the fire- 
place—a primitive cast-iron heating apparatus which is prac- 
tically an open iron fireplace, and bears on its face these 
words: 

Ross and Bird's Hibernian Furnace, 1783. 

The two long and narrow rooms in the rear are dreary with 
their bare, white, plaster walls and low, dark wainscoting of 
cherry birch. The windows are broad and deep, the sash with 
small panes of glass, and covered with inside shutters of 
cherry birch. One of these rooms, the northwest, is the 
haunted room spoken of before, but what particular antics the 
ghosts perform I have been unable to ascertain. 

I found the lofty attic very interesting indeed. Its large 
size and massive timbers, its two rows of dormer windows 
and lofty peak, its floor made of broad boards (from twelve to 
fifteen inches wide), the rough, hand-made wrought nails, the 
bare chimneys of small Holland brick, and the " lookout" 
window at the very peak, made a fitting superstructure to the 
quaint rooms below. 



150 The Mohawk Valley 

The roof was formerly covered with sheet lead, which will 
account for the heavy timber used in its construction. This 
lead, together with the window weights, was used for bullets 
during the Revolution, The lead covering of the roof was re- 
placed with shingles, but the window weights were never re- 
placed. Subsequently the shingles were replaced by the 
substantial slate roof of the present day. 

From the attic we descended to the cellar. When the 
building was constructed about one-third of the cellar was 
used as a kitchen and separated from it by a thick stone wall, 
making a room of about twenty by thirty feet. On the east 
side was a massive brick oven and fireplace, used for cooking. 
The floor of the kitchen was covered with stone slabs and the 
room was lighted by the door and two small windows about 
twenty inches high. The four large chimneys are supported 
by arches about five feet high, four feet wide, and four feet 
deep. These arches or vaults were closed by massive wooden 
doors and used for various purposes. At some time, probably 
when the house was constructed, a narrow room about thirty 
feet long and fifteen feet wide was cut off from the main cellar 
and very likely used as a dining-room for the servants. The 
descent into the cellar was made by a steep, winding stair, 
and probably was not used very often, as the kitchen was en- 
tered from the outside. 

I have often wondered why tradition did not point to some 
tragedy connected with this old building, but recently I have 
found one of murder with all its horrors. It comes to me from 
two sources, both agreeing on the main points. 

Sometime near the beginning of the present century a 
building used as a store stood where Mr. Shepard's residence 
stands now, on the corner east of the creek, about opposite 
Fort Johnson. 

This building was afterwards removed to Amsterdam vil- 



iiiiPBanKMpHPI 
Map of Schenectady in 1695. — Rev. John Miller. 



iOririoal it Bri'it.k .Vu. 



2 "W 




Explanation. 

8 The block house designed for 

I.'. Block house*. ^ °- hurch 

12 River, runnmg b«.de y tort. ^^^^ _^^^ ^^^^^^^ ,j^^ ^^em 

3.3. Indian, W,gw3m.. 9-9- ^^^^^^^ 

♦■ f^**''J: 10 A great barn. 

5. Centrybox. ^^^^ The treble stockadoes. 

6. % loft. • -1-,,^ Port Gates. 
7.7.7, Sim;« for hop 



Guy Park and Fort Johnson 153 

lage and erected on a lot east of the sand hole on West Main 
Street. It was a low, one-and-a-half-story house, with square, 
white pillars in front, the main part of the house being 
painted an impossible shade of heliotrope. 

Tradition says that a poor, worthless fellow, somewhat 
under the influence of liquor, went into the store one night 
and got into a quarrel with the storekeeper, who, in a fit of 
anger, struck the fellow on the head with a poker. The fellow 
staggered out of the store into the darkness of the night. 

A friend of the storekeeper who was present when the blow 
was struck said to him : " That was a terrible blow you struck 
that fellow; you had better go out and see what has become 
of him." 

He did so, and found him a short distance away, dead. 
With the assistance of his friend the body was carried to Fort 
Johnson, his residence, placed in the cellar and in a cask of 
whiskey until the ice in the river broke up, when it was rolled 
to the river and sent floating on its way to the sea. 

The other version is as follows: 

The drunken fellow, whose name is said to have been Joe 
Burke, instead of being struck with a poker, struck the store- 
keeper and fled, pursued by the angry merchant with a gun, 
who saw the fellow enter Fort Johnson and pass up the stairs 
toward the attic. Just as Burke reached the attic stairs the 
merchant fired and killed him, his blood spattering the stair- 
casing. The body was removed to the cellar and buried under 
one of the vaults, which was probably used for storing spiritu- 
ous liquors. The matter was hushed up and is only known 
now by tradition. 

Leaving this gruesome tale with you to receive or reject, 
I will tell another story which has the element of comedy in 
it instead of tragedy. It is said that a daughter of Dr. 
Oliver Davidson, at one time an owner and occupant of Fort 



154 The Mohawk Valley 

Johnson, wrote the following poem, which many persons who 
read this may remember to have heard in their youth: 

SALE OF OLD BACHELORS. 

I dreamed a dream in the midst of my slumbers, 
And as fast as I dreamed it was coined into numbers; 
My thoughts ran along in such beautiful metre 
I 'm sure I ne'er saw any poetry sweeter. 
It seemed that a law had been recently made, 
That a tax on old bachelors' pates should be laid. 
And in order to make them all willing to marry 
The tax was as large as they could well carry. 

The bachelors grumbled and said, " 'T was no use, 

*T was horrid injustice and cruel abuse." 

And declared that to save their own heart's blood from spilling 

Of such a vile tax they would ne'er pay a shilling. 

But the rulers determined their scheme to pursue, 
So they set the old bachelors up at vendue. 
A crier was sent through the town to and fro 
To rattle his bell and his trumpet to blow, 
And to call out aloud as he went on his way 
" Ho! forty old bachelors sold here to-day! " 

And presently all the old maids of the town, 

Each one in her very best bonnet and gown, 

From thirty to sixty, fair, ruddy, and pale, 

Of every description, all flocked to the sale. 

The auctioneer then at his labor began 

And cried out aloud, as he held up a man, 

" How much for a bachelor! Who wants to buy ? " 

In a twinkle each maiden responded, "I! I! " 

In short, at a highly extravagant price 

The bachelors were all sold off in a trice. 

And forty old maidens, some younger, some older, 

Each lugged an old bachelor home on her shoulder. 



Chapter X 
In the Old Town of Amsterdam 

IN order to ascertain the names of the first purchasers of 
land in the city and town of Amsterdam I have found it 
necessary to go back to the township of Schenectady and 
its first patent. This patent granted sixteen miles (on 
both sides of the river above and below the present city) of 
the Great Flats or Mohawk Flats as the lowlands were then 
called. These flats, being cleared and free from timber and of 
very rich soil, were all ready for the plough and eagerly sought 
for by the settlers. At the time of the first settlement the 
land immediately surrounding the stockade was divided into 
house lots and bouwlands, which were apportioned to each 
of the fourteen settlers. Later the hindmost lands were 
taken up as farms, and about 1680 and subsequent to that 
date the great flats were disposed of to others who wished to 
locate near the settlement. Gradually the settlers crept up 
along the river until they reached the limit of the Schenectady 
patent. At this extreme limit on the north side we found 
the twenty acres granted Geraldus Cambefort or Comfort 
April 22, 1703. Only twenty acres of flat land was conveyed 
by this grant, but it was generally understood that the settler 
could take as much woodland in the rear as he cared to ap- 
propriate. Next came the lands of Philip Groot at Cranes- 
ville, formerly called Claas Gravenshoek, or, by the natives, 
Adriucha. This included all the flats and islands between 
Lewis Creek and Eva's-kill about one mile, and as far north as 
he should choose to take. 

155 



156 The Mohawk Valley 

This patent was issued by Governor Dongan in 1687 to 
Hendrick Cuyler for flatlands and uplands at " Claas Graven- 
shoek." After Cuyler's death, Ann Cuyler, his widow, and 
John, his eldest son, sold the same to Carel Hanson Toll for 
^180 ($360 in those days). 

Philip Groot bought this land in 171 5 of Toll and was suc- 
ceeded by his son Lewis. It remained in the Groot family 
until within a few years. It is now in possession of Francis 
Morris. 

Lewis Groot, about 1798, in his testimony before the com- 
mission appointed to settle the dispute between the proprie- 
tors of the Schenectady and Kayaderosseras Patents, said that 
Comfort's patent extended west to the creek on which Groot's 
mill stood (Lewis Creek). Comfort was living as late as 1720. 

Lord Cornbury, governor of the province, in 1703 granted 
Comfortor Cambefort, a patent for twenty acres of land and 
the " hindermost woodland," as the land back of the flat 
was then called. 

In 1707 Comfort conveyed this land to Carel Hanson Toll, 
who conveyed it to his son-in-law, Johannes Van Eps. It is 
said that at this time Toll owned all of the flats on the north 
side of the Mohawk west of Schenectady and east of Philip 
Groot's place, Adriucha. 

On the south side of the river the same method was pur- 
sued until we came to the Willegen Vlachte (Willow Flats). 

Pieter Danielse Van O'Linda's name is found on the petition 
for the Schenectady charter in 1663, and is one of the few who 
wrote his own name. Cornelius Antonisse Van Slyke, alias 
Broer Cornelius, is said to have married a Mohawk Indian 
woman, by whom he had several children, — three sons, Jacques, 
Marten, and Cornelius, and two daughters, Hilletie and Lea. 
He died in 1676. Jacques received grants from the Indians as 
his right from his mother, the Mohawk woman. Pieter Van 




Wl.NTKR O.N THE EVA'S-KILL ROAD, CRANESVILLE 



157 



In the Old Town of Amsterdam 159 

OHnda, spoken of above, married Hilletie Cornelise Van 
Slyke, the Mohawk half-breed, through whom he received 
valuable grants of land, among which was half of the Willow 
Flats below Port Jackson, which was occupied by their descen- 
dants until within a few years. This land was east of and ad- 
joining the old Phillips place at the two locks about opposite 
Cranesville. He died in 1715, leaving the Willows to Jacob 
Van Olinda, who married Eva, daughter of Claus DeGraaf. 
Hilletie, though born and brought up among the Mohawks 
near Canajoharie, (Indian Castle) was soon separated from 
them and received the rudiments of a Christian education in 
Albany and Schenectady. She made an excellent use of her 
advantages, and is spoken of as an estimable woman. Her 
story is very interesting. 

She was born of a Christian father (Van Slyke) and an Indian 
mother of the Mohawk tribes. Her mother remained in the country 
and lived among the Mohawks, and she lived with her the same as 
Indians live together. Her mother would never listen to anything 
about Christians, as it was against her heart from an inward un- 
founded hate. As Hilletie sometimes went among the whites to 
trade, some of the Christians took a fancy to the girl, discovering 
more resemblance to the Christians than the Indians, and wished to 
take her and bring her up, but her mother would not let her go. 
The little daughter had no disposition to go at first, but she felt a 
great inclination and love in her heart to those who spoke to her 
about Christ and the Christian religion. Her mother observed it 
and grew to hate her and finally drove her from her forest home. 
She went to those who had solicited her to come so long. She had 
a particular desire to learn to read and finally made her profession 
and was baptized. 

Philip Phillipse de Moer married Elizabeth, daughter of 
Harmon Ganzevoort, of Albany, about 1685, and soon after 
took up his residence in the township of Schenectady. He 
owned or leased a portion of the sixth flat on the north side of 
the river next east of the Comfort Flat. In 1689 he ex- 
changed with Claus Willemse Van Coppernoll for the west 



i6o The Mohawk Valley 

half of Ihe Willegen Vlaghte, lying on the south side of the 
river about one mile above Philip Groot's farm, which lay on 
the north side. This was the other half of the Willow Flats 
occupied by Pieter Van Olinda. 

It is said of Philip Phillipse that when the news of the mas- 
sacre of Schenectady reached the settlers along the river, he 
fled with his family to the woods and lay concealed until the 
French and Indians, fearing retaliation from the aroused 
Dutchmen and their friends, the Mohawks, fled to Canada, 
with the settlers in hot pursuit. 

With Phillips during this season of horrors was his baby 
boy, Lewis, who, when a man and engaged as a farmer and 
Indian trader, sold Catherine Weisenburg to Wm. Johnson. 
The true story as handed down in the traditions of the Phil- 
lips family is interesting, even though stripped of the usual 
embellishment of the stories of J. R. Simms. 

It is said that about 1738, during one of Lewis Phillips's 
periodical visits to New York for the purpose of replenishing 
his supplies, he met among other emigrants who had lately 
arrived by the slow-sailing vessels of those early days, a young 
German girl, who importuned him to purchase her for service 
in the usual manner, by paying the captain of the vessel for 
her passage, which in this instance amounted to sixteen 
pounds. After considering the matter some time, he con- 
cluded to pay the sixteen pounds required and take the girl 
home with him. 

This he did, and upon arrival she was duly installed as 
servant for this little family on the frontier. This servant girl 
was Catherine Weisenburg, who in a short time attracted the 
attention of William Johnson. It seems that Johnson was 
willing to pay the amount that Phillips had paid for her, six- 
teen pounds, and Phillips was willing that he should, and " he 
got the gal." 




IM'ERIOR UF OLD GKUUT MILL, CKAN'ESVILLK 



i6l 



In the Old Town of Amsterdam 163 

Mr. John Hubbs, a respected farmer in the town of 
Florida, whose ancestors bought the farm he now occupies of 
William Johnson, being part of the Sir Peter Warren estate, 
tells the following story about Sir William and his propensity 
for practical joking. One day while yet he was living at Fort 
Johnson, an Irishman, presuming on the fact of being of the 
same nationality, applied to him for a job. They were stand- 
ing under the trees in the yard at Fort Johnson, through 
which ran the Kayaderos Creek. " What kind of a job 
do you want ? " asked Sir William. " What can you do ? " 
" Anything, sur," said the Celt. Sir William looked at him a 
moment with a twinkle in his eye, and then said, pointing to 
the rippling stream at their feet, " Do you see that creek ? " 
Yes, sur." " Well, I want you to follow that stream up 
through the forest until you come to an Indian fishing. If 
you find that he has caught any fish, bring them to me." 
" All right, sur," said the Irishman, and straightway started 
up the creek through the forest. After following the stream 
for some distance he came in sight of an Indian fishing in a 
little pool in the Hell Hollow ravine, with a good-sized string 
of fish by his side. 

Obeying the order of Sir William the Irishman approached 
the Indian, picked up the fish, and started to return. As soon 
as the red man recovered from his surprise he sprang to his feet 
and seized the string of speckled beauties also. Then came 
a war of words that neither could understand, which finally led 
to blows and a rough and tumble fight, which resulted in the 
Irishman being badly beaten and the Indian marching home 
with the fish. 

It is said that he concluded to look elsewhere for employ- 
ment. 

It would seem that Adam Vrooman, who made such a 
strong defence of his house at the burning of Schenectady, and 



1 64 The Mohawk Valley 

is said to be an ancestor of the late Mrs, Isaac Morris, the 
mother of Abram Vrooman, John F. and Charles H. C. Mor- 
ris, of this city, and Isaac Morris, of Johnstown, was granted 
land on both sides of the Mohawk River at this place, as 
follows : 

Whereas, Rode ye Maquaase (Mohawk), sachem for divers con- 
siderations, hath about three years agoe (1685) granted him (Adam 
Vrooman) two flats or plains upon both sides of ye Maquaase river 
above Hendrick Cuylers' land (Claas Graven hoek — Cranesville) 
containing eleven morgens wh: said land doth lie near ye stone 
house [Juchtanunda] so called by ye Indians, as ye go to the 
Maquaase country and forty acres of woodland adjoining them. 

The grant is further described as 

being on both sides of the Mohawk river west of Claas Graven hoek 
(as Cranesville was then called) on the south side ten morgens (20 
acres) opposite a place called by Indians Juchtanunda (?) that is ye 
stone house being a hollow rock on ye river bank where ye Indians 
generally lie under when they travill to and from their country. The 
other pieces on the north side of the river, one a little higher than 
ye said hollow rock or stone house att a place called by ye natives 
Syejodenawadde (?) and so eastward down the river so as to compre- 
hend twelve morgens (24 acres). The other just above the marked 
tree of Hendrick Cuyler (the owner of Claas Graven hoek) one 
morgen and three or four little islands. 

In trying to locate the grant of the Mohawk Indian Rode, 
to Adam Vrooman, I have taken the trouble to examine the 
banks of the Mohawk from Claas Graven hoek up to Fort 
Johnson, and the only place where cliffs or overhanging rocks 
are to be found is at a point by the N. Y. C, R, R, freight 
house, and from the Chuctanunda Creek up to the Atlas mill. 
Back of the old Bronson mansion and the site of W. U, Chase's 
blacksmith shop are to be found the only shelving rocks, and 
also large masses of rock that have fallen from the cliff above, 
indicating that at some previous period this point has been a 




THE DOORWAY OF OLD ST. MARY S 



165 



In the Old Town of Amsterdam 167 

" juchtanunda," a stone house or hollow or overhanging 
rock " where ye Indians generally lie under when they travill 
to and from their country." 

Now, in regard to the flats spoken of in this grant, an ex- 
amination of the south side of the river discloses the fact that 
the first flat west of Willow Flats is the ground now occupied 
by the fifth ward ; the only islands not otherwise accounted for 
are the four or five small " Bronson Islands " and the twelve 
morgens (twenty-four acres) must have been the Bronson 
Flats in the western part of the city of Amsterdam, together 
with forty acres of woodland, and undoubtedly covered the 
site of the village of Amsterdam. 

This leads to another thought. 

We have been taught that the meaning of Chuctanunda was 
" twin sisters " and that it was applied to the north and south 
Chuctanunda because they entered the Mohawk nearly oppo- 
site each other. It is also said to mean stone-in-the-water. 

Assuming that the definition of Juchtanunda (stone 
houses, hollow rocks, or overhanging cliffs) is correct (and 
from my authority I do not question it), it gives a different 
significance to the name Chuctanunda as applied to our 
creeks. That word is the name of the creek only secondarily, 
as, the creeks near the Juchtanunda, the Juchtanunda creeks; 
the resting-place or stone houses being paramount in the 
minds of the Indians and the creeks of secondary importance 
except as connected with their Juchtanunda, the only over- 
hanging rocks on the Mohawk this side of Fort Hunter, until 
you reach the conglomerate cliffs near Hoffman's Ferry. 

The discovery of the old Vrooman grant is valuable in two 
ways. It establishes a fact that has not been recorded in local 
history, which is, that land was taken up in what is now the 
city of Amsterdam in the seventeenth century, and brings to 
light an im.portant rendezvous of the Indians that had not 



1 68 The Mohawk Valley 

been suspected; that is, the Juchtanunda (Chuctanunda). It 
estabh'shes the fact that our two creeks have never been 
named by the Indians other than to call the creeks near the 
Juchtanunda the creeks of the Juchtanunda, although the 
name applied by the white man, the Twin Sisters, is truly 
beautiful and appropriate. 

If you will take the trouble to go down to the bank of the 
Mohawk under the culvert west of Bridge Street and walk 
along under the overhanging rocks to the west, you will be 
convinced of the appropriateness of the term "Juchtanunda," 
or stone house. 

About one hundred feet from the culvert you will come to 
a mass of rock that is familiar to every boy who has played on 
the river bank for the last half-century. It seems to have been 
originally a piece of rock perhaps twenty feet square, which, 
from its texture, must have been the upper course or ledge of 
the cliff on which formerly stood the Welcome U. Chase black- 
smith shop and the first Masonic lodge in Amsterdam. This 
immense rock is broken in five pieces and remains where 
it fell years ago. About two hundred feet farther up the 
stream is the cliff on which stands the old Bronson mansion, 
the upper ledge of which projects so far that twenty men 
could lie under its shadow and be protected from the weather. 
This stone house is divided into two parts, the farthermost 
part being hid from sight by a projecting rock. Passing this 
rock you find a spacious open room, in the centre of which, 
from under twenty feet of solid rock, runs a bubbling spring 
of water. Under these rocks, for ages, the storm-tossed sav- 
age found shelter from the tempest, or a temporary home on 
his fishing or warlike expeditions. Later it undoubtedly 
sheltered the white and red boatmen overtaken by night with 
their cargoes of merchandise or produce from the farms. 

Abram Vrooman Morris, spoken of above, may well be 




(.LRiULo Wi.NL^uW, uLU EHLE HOUSE, NELLISTON, I752 



169 



In the Old Town of Amsterdam 171 

called a self-made man, and his life is closely woven with the 
rise and progress of the city of Amsterdam. He never was a 
poor boy, in comparison to the waif described in one of John 
B. Gough's stories, who, when asked what kind of food he 
liked best, replied, " A raw turnip, or a potato with a heart in 
it, because it is more fillin' and stays in the stomach longer "; 
still, he had his own struggles, and learned early to take care 
of himself, and by his pluck and energy secured a competence 
in early manhood. He likes to tell of his life as a clerk for 
William Reid, who kept a general store formerly situated on the 
land at the southeast corner of Main and Bridge Streets. In 
those early days a country store was expected to keep every- 
thing, from a paper of pins to a barrel of flour, and from a box 
of pills to a barrel of whiskey. As Mr. Reid's store was no 
different from every country store, a barrel of whiskey, 
a cask of wine, and a keg of brandy were always in evidence 
in the rear of the store. Storekeepers were allowed to sell 
spirits by measure, but not by the glass. 

One day a worthless bummer sport came in and asked for 
a quart of whiskey, at the same time producing a bottle to put 
it in. The proprietor filled the same with whiskey, and 
handed it to the w. b. s., who placed it in his pocket, saying 
he would " pay for it to-morrow " ; but on Mr. Reid's refus- 
ing to trust him, he took another bottle, like the first, out of 
his pocket, filled with water, which the proprietor, supposing 
it to be the bottle he had just filled, took and emptied into 
the barrel of whiskey, while the w. b. s. went off with his 
bottle of whiskey without paying for it. Query : Was anyone 
a loser in the transaction ? An attempt to work the same 
scheme a few days later, resulted in the discovery of the game, 
and a rapid exit of the schemer. 

Isaac Morris, the father of Abram Vrooman Morris, for- 
merly kept quite an extensive shoe factory, for that period. 



172 The Mohawk Valley 

situated on the old Baptist Church lot, on Market Street, em- 
ploying as many as twelve workmen. This building was sub- 
sequently removed to a vacant lot on Spring Street, and was 
known as the " Sandy Maginess house," which was afterward 
torn down to make room for the Dersch Block, next to the 
Pythian Temple. Mrs. Isaac Morris's maiden name was Jane 
Vrooman. Like Van Corlear and Wemple, the name of Vroo- 
man is prominent in the history of the Mohawk Valley ; but it 
is only to-day, with the aid of Ve^.rsoWs Schejtectady Patent 
and Simms's Frontiersmen of New York, together with valu- 
able information from Abram Vrooman Morris, that I feel 
able to trace the lineage of the Vrooman family back to Hol- 
land. 

It is recorded that in the early part of the seventeenth cen- 
tury three brothers named Pieter, Jacob, and Hendrick Meese 
Vrooman came to New Netherland from Holland. Pieter 
and Jacob settled in Albany and left no male descendants. 
Hendrick, after living at Kinderhook and Steene Raby (Lan- 
singburg), removed to Schenectady in 1677. At the Massacre 
of Schenectady, February 9, 1690, Hendrick and his son 
Bartholomew and his two negro slaves were killed and 
burned, leaving two sons, Adam and Jan, to inherit his estate. 
Adam was born in Holland in 1649, and in 1670 bound him- 
self for two years to Cornelius Van den Bergh, of Albany 
County, to learn the millwright's trade. In 1683 he built a 
mill on the Sand-kil, east of Schenectady, where the 
Brandywine mill now stands. In 1690, when Schenectady was 
destroyed, he saved his life by his bravery in defending his 
house, although his first wife, Engeltje, with her infant child, 
was killed, and his two sons, Wouter and Barent, were carried 
away to Canada. He married three times, his second wife be- 
ing the widow of Jacques Cornelius Van Slyke, and the third, 
Greitje Takelse Hemstraat. He had nine sons and four 



In the Old Town of Amsterdam 175 

daughters. He seems to have been a large land owner, for 
besides numerous lots in Schenectady he was granted a patent 
for six hundred acres of land in Schoharie, in 17 14, which was 
occupied by his son Pieter and his descendants. On March 
30, 1726, he obtained a new Indian title for fourteen hundred 
acres of flats knows as Vrooman's Land, in the Schoharie 
Valley. 

On a previous page I stated that in 1688 he was granted an 
Indian title for land comprising the present fifth ward of Am- 
sterdam, and the Bronson Flats and woodlands in this vicinity. 
It would seem as though Pieter was the only one of his sons 
who followed his father to the Schoharie, some of them living 
in Albany, others in Schenectady. Pieter died in 1771, leav- 
ing twelve children, one of whom was Abraham Vrooman, 
who persisted in writing his name Abram. He was the father 
of Mrs. Isaac Morris, Sr., and the grandfather of Abram 
Vrooman Morris, who is his namesake. 

J. R. Simms writes at considerable length of the ravages 
of the Indians in what is known in history as the Massacre of 
Schoharie, in August, 1780. He says in one place: 

The invaders, consisting of 73 Indians, almost naked, and five 
lories — Benj. Beacraft, Frederick Sager, Walter Allet, one Thomp- 
son, and a mulatto, commanded by Capt. Brant, approached Vroo- 
man's land, in the vicinity of the upper fort, about 10 o'clock in the 
morning. They entered the valley on the west side of the river, 
above Onistagrawa, in three places; one party coming down from 
the mountain near the late residence of Charles Watson; another 
near the Jacob Haines place, then the residence of Capt. Tunis 
Vrooman; and the third near the dwelling of the late Harmanus 
Vrooman, at that time the residence of Col. Peter Vrooman, who 
chanced to be with his family in the middle fort. Capt. Hager 
being absent, the command of the upper fort devolved on Capt. 
Tunis Vrooman. Capt. Vrooman, on the morning in question, 
having returned home to secure some wheat, and Lieut. Ephraim 
Vrooman, to whom the command next belonged having gone to his 



1/6 The Mohawk Valley 

farm soon after Capt. Vrooman left, he left Lieut. Harper with less 
than a dozen men, to defend the post. Mrs. Ephraim Vrooman 
also returned to her home to do her washing. 

It is said that on that morning Capt. Tunis Vrooman and 
his sons drew two loads of wheat to the barracks. The grain 
had not all been pitched from the wagon when he beheld ap- 
proaching a party of hostile savages. He descended from the 
barrack, not far from which he was tomahawked and scalped, 
and had his throat cut by a Schoharie Indian named John, 
who stood upon his shoulders while tearing off his scalp. His 
wife, while washing in the farmhouse, was surprised and 
stricken down. After the first blow from the tomahawk she 
remained erect, but a second blow laid her dead at the feet of 
the Indian, who scalped her, and three of the oldest boys, 
with the blacks, were made captives. His son, Peter, would 
probably have escaped had not one of the blacks made known 
his place of concealment. Trying to escape, he was pursued 
by the tory Beacraft, who caught him, and, placing his legs be- 
tween his own, bent his head back and cut his throat, after 
which he scalped him and hung his body across a fence. 

Above I have told of Lieutenant Ephraim Vrooman 
and his wife leaving the fort early in the morning for 
their farmhouse. An Indian called Seth's Henry led a 
party of the enemy to this dwelling. On hearing the alarm 
Vrooman ran to the house, caught up his infant child, and 
fled into a cornfield, followed by his wife leading her little 
daughter. He seated himself against the trunk of a large 
apple-tree, with his wife concealed a few rods from him in the 
thrifty corn. His family would no doubt have remained un- 
discovered, had not Mrs. Vrooman become alarmed, and 
risen up with a cry, in low Dutch, " Ephraim, Ephraim, 
where are you ? Have you got the child ? " Instantly, almost, 
a bullet from Seth's Henry's rifle pierced her body, and as she 



'^• *-:-* J-:- ^ 




In the Old Town of Amsterdam 1 79 

lay on the ground he tomahawked and scalped her, and the 
tory Beacraft killed her little daughter with a stone and drew 
off her scalp. It is said that when the body of Mrs. Vrooman 
was found, it was evident that she had partially revived and 
tried to staunch the flow of blood from her breast, first with 
her cap, afterwards with earth, having dug quite a hole in the 
ground. Adam A. Vrooman fled from the Indians to the 
upper fort, keeping the enemy at bay with his pistol, when 
they came too near him. On his arrival at the fort he was 
asked how he escaped, when he answered, " I pulled foot." 
After that, to the day of his death, he was called " Pull Foot 
Vrooman." His wife was made a prisoner. Simon Vrooman, 
his wife and three-year-old son, were taken prisoners also. 

Abraham or Abram Vrooman, the grandfather of Abram 
V. Morris, had a narrow escape from death or capture. Be- 
ing in Vrooman's land with a wagon, on which was a hay rack, 
he drove down through the valley and picked up several citi- 
zens. At Judge Swart's he shouted to Mrs. Swart, " Cornelia, 
jump into my wagon, the Indians are upon us." She ran to 
the house, snatched her infant child from its cradle, and 
reached the wagon with her husband just as the Indians ap- 
peared at the dwelling. Vrooman, who had a powerful team, 
did not stop to open the gates, but drove the horses directly 
against and over them, and was fortunate enough to outstrip 
the red savages, and escape to the middle fort. 

At the time Seth's Henry killed Mrs. Ephraim Vrooman, 
another powerful Indian, who was directed by her call to her 
husband's place of concealment, approached him and thrust a 
spear at his body, which he parried, and the infant in his arms 
smiled. Another pass was made and parried, and the child 
again smiled. At the third blow of the spear, which was also 
warded off, the little innocent laughed aloud at the supposed 
sport, which awakened the sympathy of the savage, and he 



i8o The Mohawk Valley 

made Vrooman a prisoner, also his sons and German workmen. 
John Vrooman, his wife, and five children were also captured. 

The destroyers of Vrooman's land proceeded in the after- 
noon about fifteen miles and encamped for the night. The 
scalps of the slain were stretched upon hoops and dried in the 
presence of the relative prisoners. After travelling about six 
miles Brant, who was in charge, permitted the wife of John 
Vrooman, with her infant and one taken from Ephraim, to 
return to the settlement. Col. Peter Vrooman, by his en- 
ergetic defense of the middle fort, saved it from capture by 
Sir John Johnson and his savages. 

Of course, Simms has many tales to tell of other families of 
Schoharie, who suffered death or capture by the savages; but 
my purpose at this time is to follow the fortunes of the de- 
scendants of Adam and Peter Vrooman, and to trace the line- 
age of the mother of Abram V. Morris; as follows: 

Hendrick Meese Vrooman. 

Adam Vrooman. 

Peter Vrooman. 

Abram or Abraham Vrooman. 

Jane Vrooman, the wife of Isaac Morris, Sr. 

Isaac Morris's children were as follows: 

Lewis, Abram V., Margaret, Tunis, Charles H. C, John 
F., James Stewart, and Isaac Morris, Jr. 



Chapter XI 

The Last Battle between the Mohawks and Mohicans. 
The Famous Butler Mansion 

IN 1669, when no white man was seen along the shores of 
the Mohawk, except a few adventurous Dutch and Eng- 
lish traders, French courcurs-de-bois, and an occasional 
Jesuit priest, a large body of Mohican warriors passed 
through this valley en route to surprise and destroy their nat- 
ural foes, the Mohawks, and their palisaded village Kanyea- 
geh, which was situated on the Sand Flat Hill west of Fonda. 
Three days after, this body of warriors returned, repulsed, and 
practically defeated, as they had expended their ammunition, 
consumed their food, and failed to destroy the Indian strong- 
hold, although defended by a very small body of Mohawks. 
Within twenty-four hours this small body of defenders, rein- 
forced by friends from the upper Mohawk castles, passed down 
the river in hot pursuit of their enemies, the Mohicans. 

At Hoffman's Ferry they found them entrenched on the 
hill west of the present ferry, now called Towereune or 
Kinaquarione. This hill formerly extended to the river, end- 
ing in a "juchtanunda" at the water's edge and formed a strong 
natural barrier, which could not well be scaled. Quietly the 
pursuing warriors ascended this range, in the vicinity of what 
is known as Swart's Hill, fiercely and unexpectedly assailed 
the Mohicans in the rear and drove them into their entrench- 
ments, which they stubbornly held until darkness put an end 
to the fight. 

iSr 



i82 The Mohawk Valley 

At the first streak of dawn on the following day the Mo- 
hawks again attacked their foes so fiercely that they drove 
them from their entrenchments and into the river, where the 
remnant of the tribe escaped in boats and by swimming. This 
engagement is spoken of as the last great battle between the 
Mohawks and the Mohicans. It is said that the latter tribe 
left their hunting-grounds on the Hudson River and migrated 
to Connecticut, from which place they did not return for more 
than half a century. 

The hill was called Towereune or Ki-na-qua-ri-o-ne, 
which is generally understood to mean " The place of the last 
great battle." I am indebted to Mrs. Harriet Maxwell Con- 
verse for the following definition of words similar to the words 
written above, received from an intelligent aged Mohawk 
woman and an Abeniki woman, who speaks the Mohican. 

The definitions are very interesting, as they all bear on the 
same subject : 

Ke-na-kwa-di-one — We are going to kill them. 

Ke-na-kwa-di-io-he-ne — I was going to kill them. 

Ka-qua-ri-on-ne — Why did you not kill me, too, with my 
people ? 

Ki-na-qua-ri-o-ne — We killed the bear, or a place of death. 

The old Mohawk woman says that the word, correctly 
spelled, may mean a place of capture, or a hill where they 
killed their enemy. The other spellings of the above are 
thought by the Abeniki woman to be of Mohican origin. 

The definition of Towereune is given as follows, and, you 
will notice, refers to the same subject : 

Ta-no-we-do-ne — We wanted to kill them. 

Ka-na-ron-que — Those I loved best have gone (been 
killed). 

Tow-ire-en-ne — Place where Indians (or the enemy) were 
killed. 



The Famous Butler Mansion 185 

In 1689 and 1693 the French and Canadian Indians passed 
up the valley and raided and destroyed the Mohawk castle at 
Tiononderoga (Fort Hunter) and the castles above, returning 
to Canada by the trail along the Juchtanunda Creek. In 1738 
Sir William Johnson settled in Warrensbush on the south 
side of the Mohawk, about half a mile below the mouth of the 
Juchtanunda Creek, or, as Philip Schuyler reported in his 
survey of the Mohawk in 1792, " one-half mile below the 
creek on which Vedder's grist mill stands." 

As early as 1742 Johnson had succeeded in winning the 
confidence and affection of the Indians of the Six Nations, 
which finally led to his appointment as Indian Commissioner, 
and repeated conferences with the Indian tribes were held at 
Mount Johnson. During the old French War troops were re- 
peatedly seen passing to and fro between Albany and Mount 
Johnson, sometimes on the south side, but generally on the 
north side, of the Mohawk. War parties of Indians were 
frequently organized by Mr. Johnson to harass the French set- 
tlements in Canada. In June, 1779, fifteen hundred soldiers 
under General James Clinton passed up the Mohawk, in two 
hundred and ten bateaux, being part of General Sullivan's ex- 
pedition against the Senecas. 

From 1755 to 1765 repeated conferences were held with 
the Indians at Fort Johnson, as it was then called. As early 
as 1746 we find the name of John Butler connected with Sir 
W\ Johnson and frequently a member of the board of com- 
missioners, sometimes as an interpreter. 

Necessarily we find many objects of interest scattered 
through this section of the Mohawk Valley, notably Queen 
Anne's Chapel, Fort Johnson, Guy Park, and other old build- 
ings. 

Recently an old building has been brought to my notice that 
has never received the attention that it deserves. 



1 86 The Mohawk Valley 

I refer to the old Butler house on Svvitzer Hill. The 17th 
of June was an ideal day for a drive in the country, being 
bright with sunlight and the air balmy with a western breeze, 
so gentle that it might well be termed a zephyr. Our road led 
us through Tribes Hill, whose original appellation was Trips 
Hill and not Tripes Hill, as erroneously stated. The name 
may be found on the Try on map of 1779, and refers to the 
original grant of that section, the northwest corner of which 
joins the northeast corner of the Butler grant. The Butler 
grant was conveyed December i, 1735, to Walter Butler and 
three others. Passing by the many pleasant places in Tribes 
Hill, among which are the Striker and Shanahan places and 
the pleasant home of Dr. Suits, we reach the Young home- 
stead. Turning north at the latter place our road winds over 
hill and dale and along the banks of the Danascara Creek until 
we come to the elegant home, and farm buildings of Mr. H. 
T. E. Brower. From this point the road takes a westerly 
direction with the Danascara ever in sight, past pleasant farm 
houses and farms that present a thrifty appearance. About 
thirty rods south of the junction of the Tribes Hill road with 
a road leading from Fonda to Johnstown stands the old Butler 
house, the former home of Capt. Walter Butler, Senior, and 
later of his son, Col. John, of Wyoming notoriety, and grand- 
son, Lieut. Walter Butler, Junior, who is remembered in con- 
nection with the Cherry Valley massacre. Located a short 
distance from the main road, it is approached by a driveway^ 
between rows of locust hedges, to a wide, well-kept lawn on 
the west side of the house. At iirst sight the house presents 
rather an incongruous appearance by its mingling of the new 
with the old. but as we look closer we see that, while the old 
does not add to the attractiveness of the new building, the 
new emphasizes the antiquity of the old by contrast. In the 
centre of the lawn is an old well with a modern pump, which 



The Famous Butler Mansion 189 

has been substituted for the old weather-beaten well-box and 
sweep from which formerly depended a traditional old moss- 
covered oaken bucket. On the south edge of the lawn stands 
a large locust tree whose abbreviated dead branches extend in 
every direction. Near this tree a grape-vine grows, whose an- 
aconda-like trunk has reached and enfolded this tree with its 
snaky coils. But it does not, like its reptilian counterpart, 
convey poisonous death in its embrace, but beautiful life, in its 
bright green leaves and tendrils and promises of luscious fruit. 

To the south of the locust is the fruit garden, filled with 
the thrifty fruit trees indigenous to our cold climate, and a 
suggestion of the south in the numerous fruitful peach-trees, 
clustered in the bright sunlight. Here and there we see the 
syringa, the rose, and the Joseph coat, with their green foliage 
almost hidden by the luxuriance of the brilliant flowers that 
cover their branches. And back of all this wealth of color 
stands the gray, wooden walls of the old house, fairly gro- 
tesque in its want of beauty of outline, and the poverty of its 
ornamentation. 

But these thoughts all vanished as we entered the house 
and were greeted by the mistress, Miss Margaret Wilson, and 
were at ease at once, from the cordiality of her reception. 

The house was built in 1743 by Walter Butler, senior, the 
father of Col. John Butler, about the same time that Sir Wm. 
Johnson erected Fort Johnson, and from the known intimacy 
between the two families must have been the scene of many a 
revelry among those high livers. 

A "lean-to" has been built on the west side of the house, 
extending the already long angle of the old roof and at the same 
time preserving the west side of the original building from the 
ravages of time and the elements. This shows that the or- 
iginal clapboards were each about twelve inches wide, planed 
by hand and with beaded edges. Between the upright timbers. 



igo The Mohawk Valley 

inside of the clapboards, were placed adobe or sun-baked 
brick of the usual length and about one and one-half inches 
thick. These brick were evidently laid in clay, instead of 
mortar, and finished on the inside with whitewash. In later 
years this rude finish was covered with lath and plaster. 

The ceiling of the first story shows the heavy oak timbers 
exposed, and between them is seen the wooden ceiling, which 
also constitutes the floor of the second story. The house it- 
self is about thirty by forty feet with the front to the east. 
The main floor was formerly divided by a wide hall in the 
centre with two rooms on each side and a stairway at the end 
of the hall. We were shown a trap door in the lower floor and 
another, directly over it, in the second floor, and evidences of 
an enclosure that connected the two, making a secret passage- 
way from the second story to the cellar. The main timbers 
of the lower floor are very strong, being made of white oak 
trees about fifteen inches in diameter and thirty feet long, 
roughly hewn. The stone foundation is of the most primitive 
character, and looks as if the stones had been gathered from 
the fields or wherever they could be easily loosened with a 
bar. In fact, the old house made me think that it was erected in 
the same manner that King Solomon's temple was built, — 
that is, without the sound of axe, hammer, or other metal 
tools — except perhaps an axe. My attention was called to 
the outside doors, which all opened outward. In the bottom 
of each door was evidence of an opening, the shape of a half- 
moon, which was formerly closed with tarred tow or felt. It 
was explained that where a house was haunted this opening 
was made for the ghost to retire if it wanted to. But if it 
went out, for a few minutes, it could not get back on account 
of the tar. 

" I know not what the truth may be, 
I say the tale as 't was said to me. " 



The Famous Butler Mansion 



191 







This property has been in the hands of the Wilson family 
for nearly seventy years, having been bought in 1830 by 
Henry Wilson, the father of 
the present owners, Mr. 
Henry Wilson and Miss Mar- 
garet Wilson. 

They deserve great credit 
for having preserved this old 
building from destruction and 
decay. 

Leaving the old Butler 
house, we were told that there 
was a very pretty view of the 
valley at the junction of roads 
above, but we were not pre- 
pared for the exquisite view 
that burst upon the sight as we 
turned the bend of the road. 

Imagine if you will, standing upon a hill about two hundred 
feet high, " green and of mild declivity," and the valley below 
abbreviated by a range of rugged hills that, bending to the 
south, end a few miles to the west at the river bank in the 

Nose." A heavy rainfall of a number of days had cleared 
the air and foliage of all impurities, a gentle breeze had dissi- 
pated all mist and fog and even the purple haze of the distant 
mountain, leaving all nature bright and fresh and green. Be- 
fore and below us were the manifold shades of green, of which 
nature is so lavish in those " rare days in June." In the 
centre of this emerald field lay the Mohawk, that by a bend 
in the river above and the dense foliage of trees before us 
seemed to have no beginning or ending, but spread out before 
us like a small lake whose surface w^as free from ripple or riff 
and shone like burnished silver in the brigrht midday sun. 



CAUGHNAWAGA CHURCH, FONDA, 
I763-1S6S 



192 The Mohawk Valley 

Around this liquid mirror extended a fringe of low bushes, 
whose darker shade of green made beautiful contrast to the 
bright shades of the fields of grain beyond. A little to the 
north of this lake a short section of the New York Central 
Railroad stretches out in geometrical precision looking like a 
gridiron of huge dimensions. Along its side at short intervals 
rise blue spirals of smoke, which change to a bluish-white 
cloud as they mingle and float away against the dark green of 
the trees that cover the hill slopes, while on the sides of the 
southern hills dwellings of red and white, each with its little 
cluster of trees or shrubbery, mark the abodes of men. 

Nearly in the centre of this picture and from out a cluster 
of oak and maple and elms emerges the dome of the old court 
house, and from its summit springs a tall staff with Old Glory 
floating lazily against its side, giving a charming bit of color 
to this picture of emerald hues. Suddenly, and seemingly 
from out a cluster of trees at the base of the hill, there comes 
a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, supplemented by 
shriek and roar and rumble, and a form completely enveloped 
in its own black smoke, appears and disappears along the iron 
rails below, leaving a trail of smoke to mark its flight like the 
]5ath of a shrieking shell from a monster gun. And over all 
this beauty the golden sunlight and the celestial blue of the 
heavens flecked here and there with clouds of fleecy white and 
sombre gray. 



Chapter XII 

Johnstown, New York 

TRAVELLERS on the New York Central Railroad 
probably are familiar with a small village called 
Fonda, situated on the Mohawk River about forty- 
miles from Albany, at the mouth of the Cayadutta 
Creek. If their destination is Johnstown, they will change 
cars at this place and take passage on the F. J. & G. R. R., 
or an electric car. 

If you stroll up the main street of Fonda a few rods west 
of the station you will come to a stream flowing from the 
north and bearing an Indian name — Cayadutta. A century 
and a half ago the banks of this stream were in all their primi- 
tive beauty and wildness, and in earlier times had been chosen 
by the Agniers (Mohawks) for the sites of two of their vil- 
lages, one on the high ground forming its western bank and 
bearing the name of Ca-hani-aga, the other about three miles 
to the north, lately discovered and yet unnamed. If you 
wander still farther up this creek you will find a succession of 
rapids now marked with mill sites, and in a bowl-shaped val- 
ley, four miles from the Mohawk River, a flourishing village 
named, in 1770, Johnstown. 

This section was originally included in the Kingsborough 
Patent, as it was called, granted to Arent Stevens and others, 
June 23, 1753, and comprised twenty thousand acres of land. 
This land came into possession of Sir William Johnson, but at 
what date I have been unable to find any record. Probably 

193 



194 The Mohawk Valley 

he was one of the " others " mentioned in the patent, as we 
known that he had leased or sold land to over a hundred 
families who had settled in that locality before he built John- 
son Hall in 1763. 

Previous to the granting of the Kingsborough patent, Wil- 
liam Johnson was in possession of a few thousand acres along 
the north bank of the Mohawk west of Amsterdam, but the 
notorious Kayaderosseras patent shut him off on the east and 
the Butler and Caughnawaga patents on the west and north, 
obliging him to take up lands north of them in order to secure 
a large tract. The Kingsland grant of land was given to Sir 
William by the Crown after he was made Baronet and subse- 
quent to the battle of Lake George in 1755. Among those to 
whom he leased land with the supposed purpose of establish- 
ing a baronial estate, were Dr. William Adams, Gilbert Tice, 
innkeeper ; Peter Young, miller; William Phillips, wagon- 
maker; James Davis, hatter ; Peter Yost, tanner ; Adrian Van 
Sickler, Major John Little, and Zephaniah Bachelor. He 
named the placed Johnstown, built a court-house, jail, church, 
taverns, and numerous dwellings for his tenants. 

It would seem as though his baronial mansion, as Johnson 
Hall is sometimes called, must have been considered a tem- 
porary structure, being constructed of wood (although after 
nearly a century and a half it is in an excellent state of pre- 
servation), because his other and older home, Fort Johnson, 
and the home of his daughter, Guy Park, both on the Mo- 
hawk, are well built of stone, with interiors much better fin- 
ished than Johnson Plall. 

The 25th of March, 1898, was a typical spring day, although 
the weather was not such as we are in the habit of having in 
the Mohawk Valley in that windy month. However, it was 
pleasant enough to induce me to take a trip to Johnson Hall, 
Johnstown. Perhaps I was in a mood to dream of the past 



Johnstown, New York 197 

and on that account the route to the old historic village 
seemed to be void of all modern improvements, and I was be- 
ing transported through forests and lonely settlements. 

In passing Guy Park I saw the rough stone walls of the 
original building surrounded by forests and rude instruments 
of husbandry. Fort Johnson impressed me with its antiquity 
without any stretch of imagination, A short distance above, 
the mind recalled the palisaded Fort Hunter, with the stone 
walls of Queen Anne's chapel in its centre, and I could see 
the group of dirty Indians crowding its wall and accepting a 
religion they knew nothing and cared nothing about. Look- 
ing across the Schoharie and over the hills to the west, I see 
the form of Father Jogues, with his long, black robe, tied 
around the waist with a rope, and his rosary hanging at his 
side, shrinking from warrior and squaw as though expecting 
some new cruelty or indignity. A little farther to the west on 
the north side I see the new village of Ka-nyea-geh (Caugh- 
nawaga), with its defensive palisades swarming with warriors 
defending their homes against hundreds of savage Mohicans, 
with the great Massachusetts Sachem, Chickatabutt, at their 
head. And in the midst of the Mohawks I see the form of 
Tekakwitha and the Jesuit Father De Lamberville. 

Leaving Fonda I am recalled to the nineteenth century by 
asking a trainman if our train passed the old Indian site of 
Ka-nyea-geh and he answered that he had never heard of it. I 
put the same question to the conductor and he said he did 
not know. 

Upon arriving at Johnstown I stepped up to a man with a 
badge on his cap and said: " Can you tell me what road to 
take to get to Johnson Hall ?" " Johnson Hall ?" he re- 
plied, " I never heard of it." " I mean," said I, " the old 
family mansion of Sir William Johnson, the place where he 
formerly lived." "Oh," said he, "you mean Sir William John- 



198 The Mohawk Valley 

son's Hotel ? It is right — " but I was around the corner in- 
terviewing some one else by that time, and did not hear what 
direction to take to reach the Sir William Johnson Hotel. 

After receiving some intelligent instruction from a man in 
a blue uniform I started on my quest for Johnson Hall, which 
is situated about one mile northwest of the railroad depot. A 
bridge spans the Cayadutta Creek a short distance from the 
railroad, the waters of which were running red as if in com- 
memoration of the blood of patriots shed by Sir John John- 
son, Brant, and Butler in their frequent raids on the settle- 
ments in the valley of the Mohawk. 

Passing by the numerous handsome cottages that line both 
sides of the street, I approached a fork in the road, and on a 
tree observed a board, which, at a distance, I supposed to con- 
tain the necessary direction to reach Johnson Hall. Ap- 
proaching nearer, the information I received was this: " STove 
wooD $1.75 Per corD." 

Not obtaining the information desired, I took the road to 
the right, and soon saw the building in the distance. 

Although the sun was shining brightly, and the atmos- 
phere gave evidence that spring was here, the bare trees and 
dreary aspect of fields, made gray with the frosts of winter, 
and the occasional patches of dirty white snow on the hill 
slopes, reminded me of the " winter of our discontent," from 
which we were just emerging. 

In the distance to the right the Cayadutta winds its slow 
length along, to turn the wheels in the distant village, and 
near its left bank, partly hidden by stately oaks and maples, 
with lilac and evergreen trees scattered here and there, stands 
the historic mansion, Johnson Hall, modernized by cupola, 
bay windows, ornamental porch, and roof of variegated slate. 

I must confess to a feeling of disappointment, although the 
view from the standpoint of the nineteenth century is very 



Johnstown, New York 201 

pretty. Passing up a broad walk, about two hundred feet 
long from the entrance to this small park, lined with large 
maples, we reach the building. It is true that each maple has 
been pierced with a patent spile, from which, drop by drop, 
the colorless sap is flowing into small tin pails, but when I 
raise my eyes and see the old stone fort to the left and back 
of the building, I recall the object of my errand, and realize 
that I am at one of the homes of Sir William Johnson. 

The house and adjoining land belong to Mrs. John E. 
Wells, and the occupants are very courteous to strangers who 
call to see the house. The present main entrance was form- 
erly the rear of the house, and faces nearly southeast. En- 
tering, I am ushered at once into a broad hall that extends the 
full depth of the house, at the end of which is a broad stair- 
way with spacious landings that leads to a similar large hall 
above. To the left of the hall as you enter is a large room 
about eighteen by thirty-eight feet, with an ornamental wood 
cornice extending around the room, the sidewalls having 
panelled wainscoting about four feet high. The hall is about 
fifteen feet wide and thirty-eight feet deep, and to the right 
are two rooms about eighteen feet square, whose ceilings are 
also adorned with handsome wood cornice. Above, the space 
is divided into four rooms and a wide hall to correspond to the 
hall below. All of these rooms are finished with panelled 
wainscoting and shallow windows without weights. One of 
the rooms in the second story is pointed out as the council- 
room of Sir William, and another as the place where St. Pat- 
rick Masonic Lodge was organized and its meetings held for a 
number of years. The basement is said to have been used as 
a stable, but is now fitted up with kitchen, dining-room, etc. 

The building is two stories high, and built of wood, the 
clapboards being so arranged as to represent blocks of stone. 
At present the interior has the appearance of a house of the 



202 The Mohawk Valley 

present day, with its panelled work grained to represent oak, 
and the handsome belongings of a well-to-do family of refined 
taste, but it would take quite a stretch of imagination to people 
it again with Molly Brant and her half-caste children and her 
brother, Joseph Brant, in full war-paint and feathers, passing 
down from the council-room above, were it not for the de- 
facement of the mahogany banister and rail at every step 
taken by the chief down the stairs that he was never again to 
ascend. Whether it was done in anger or not, we do not 
know, but the marks left by the hatchet seem to have been 
the work of a mischievous boy, rather than a savage. Outside, 
and a little in advance of the original front, stands one of 
the two small forts that formerly stood on each side of the 
building. 

It is said that the two forts were connected with the base- 
ment of the building by an underground passage, all evidence 
of which has been destroyed, except the opening from the 
basement, which has been closed with masonry. Johnstown 
may well feel proud of Johnson Hall, St. John's Church, the 
court-house, and jail, and the associations connected with Sir 
William Johnson, but the old stone buildings erected by him 
on the banks of the Mohawk, twenty years earlier, Fort John- 
son and Guy Park, bear an impress of antiquity that the later 
buildings do not possess. 

St. John's Episcopal Church is the third edifice of that 
name built in the village. It is said that the first church edifice 
was erected in 1760, and was located on the ground now 
known as the old colonial graveyard on Green Street, the spot 
being marked by a cross erected October 15, 1897, to indicate 
the location of the first church, at which time appropriate ser- 
vices were held at St. John's Church and at the old graveyard. 
This undoubtedly is the spot where the early missionaries 
ofificiated, dividing their time between Queen Anne's Chapel 




ST. John's church and grave oi- sir william johnson, johnstown, \. v. 



203 



Johnstown, New York 205 

at Fort Hunter and the old church at Johnstown. The next 
church building was probably erected in 1771 or 1772. It oc- 
cupied part of the lot on which the present church now stands, 
with its side to Market Street, and with front facing north- 
ward. In erecting this church Sir William gave a two-acre lot 
on which it stood and also a glebe of forty acres on the south- 
east side of the village. The fight for this glebe, between the 
Episcopalians and the Presbyterians, after the war, is very in- 
teresting reading, but we have not space to record it at the 
present time. 

It seems that Sir William had never legally conveyed the 
title to the property, which after his death reverted to his son, 
Sir John Johnson, and after the confiscation of the estate, the 
Presbyterians occupied both church and glebe. The Episco- 
palians obtained possession of the church years after, but the 
Presbyterian's claim to the glebe was confirmed by the legis- 
lature. St. John's Church was destroyed by fire in 1836. 
Under the chancel was found the tomb of Sir William. In 
rebuilding, the church's location on the lot was changed, the 
front facing the east. This change left the tomb outside the 
walls of the church, and its location was lost, until discovered in 
1862 by the Rev. Mr. Kellogg, than rector of St. John's. The 
vault was found in good condition except that a few bricks of 
the roof had fallen. A plain gold ring bearing the date of 
June, 1739-16 was found in the vault, also the bullet which Sir 
William received in the battle of Lake George. The ring is 
supposed to have belonged to Catherine Weisenburg, his wife, 
and worn by him after her death. Portions of the skeleton 
remaining were sealed in a granite sarcophagus, and restored 
to the tomb with appropriate ceremonies conducted by Right 
Rev. Bishop Potter, of the State of New York, June 7, 1862. 
The grave may yet be seen in front of St. John's south of the 
entrance. 



2o6 The Mohawk Valley 

On a subsequent visit to this ancient village, many other 
places of interest were pointed out to the writer, including the 
court-house on North William Street, and the jail on the corner 
of South Perry and Montgomery Streets, both built by Sir 
William Johnson in 1772. The court-house, although nearly 
one hundred and thirty years old, is still well preserved and 
attractive in appearance. The brick of which it is constructed 
was brought from England, and transferred to a sloop at New 
York for voyage up the Hudson to Albany. From thence 
tHey were carried by wagons to Johnstown, In the octagonal 
tower which surmounts the court-house is a substitute for a bell 
in the shape of a triangle made from a large iron bar, which is 
struck with a hammer by the caretaker whenever the court is 
called together. 

The jail is of stone, with walls four feet thick, and is located 
on a slight eminence sloping gently to the south, north, and 
west. On the lawn are cannon and pyramids of shot and 
shell, leaving the spectator a little in doubt of the character 
of the old, well-kept building, flanked by modern structures 
for the sheriff's offices. The jail was begun at the same time 
with the court-house, the legislature appropriating sixteen 
hundred pounds for their completion in 1774. Of the jail it is 
said : 

Under the date of October 26, 1775, the Tryon County Revolu- 
tionary Committee inquired of Sir John Johnson whether he pre- 
tended a prerogative to the courthouse and jail, " and would hinder 
or interrupt the committee to make use of the same public houses to 
our want and service in the common cause." Sir John in reply 
claimed the buildings as his property until he had been refunded 
;;^7oo which Sir William had advanced toward their construction. 
The Committee at the same time respecting the claim, fitted up a 
private house as a prison, and sent some convicts to Albany and 
Hartford for safe keeping. Congress, however, was informed that 
Sir William had conveyed the buildings to the county, and the jail 



1^^^ 




Johnstown, New York 209 

was used as a fort by the patriots during the Revolution, being 
fortified v/ith palisades and block houses. 

Of the early taverns of Johnstown the most noted were 
the Gilbert Tice's Inn, formerly on William Street, the Black 
Horse Tavern, on the corner of William and Montgomery 
Streets, now known as the Younglove Homestead, and Union 
Hall, at the junction of East Main and East State Streets, or, 
as it was called in earlier years, in the angle of the Tribes Hill 
and Fondasbush roads. They were frontier inns and were at 
times scenes of lawlessness and brawls between hunters and 
trappers, and the Indians and half-breeds, who frequented 
them to exchange their stock of furs and drink deep in the 
proceeds. Shortly after the war, Gilbert Tice's Inn on Wil- 
liam Street was kept by a Frenchman named Jean Baptiste de 
Fonclaire, who was a very popular landlord, notwithstanding 
his excitability. It was in this building that Nick Stoner met 
the murderer of his father, the story of which meeting is told 
by J. R. Simms and others: 

One day after the war a party of six or seven Canadian Indians 
who had come to the little settlement to exchange furs for fire-water, 
were gathered in and about the kitchen and barroom awaiting the 
meal that was being prepared for them by the landlord's family. 
In the kitchen were three Indians drinking from bottles of whiskey 
that were on the table standing near the huge open fireplace where 
the meal was being cooked. On the hearth was a large platter of 
fried pork swimming in hot gravy, and dishes of vegetables ready 
for the meal. Major Stoner, in search of a friend, entered the 
kitchen, and being slightly under the influence of liquor he soon 
became involved in a quarrel with one of the half-drunken Red 
Skins. Major Stoner's father having been killed and scalped by an 
Indian, the sight of a dusky savage was always enough to arouse 
murderous passion in his breast, and he instantly grappled the Indian 
and threw him on the table which overturned and landed his an- 
tagonist on the floor amid the debris of broken bottles, crockery, 
and part of the prepared feast. Springing to his feet while the 



2IO The Mohawk Valley 

room resounded with war cries and oaths of the combatants, the 
Indian leaped over the table and grappled Stoner again. But as in 
the former tackle the white man proved the most skilful and the 
Indian was soon at the mercy of his wiry, maddened antagonist, who 
in attempting to throw him into the open fireplace only succeeded in 
landing his half-naked body in the great trencher of sizzling fat, 
burning his back in a fearful manner. 

While the fracas in the kitchen was going on, a stalwart half- 
naked warrior, aroused by hearing the name of Nick Stoner re- 
peated, was dancing or rather shuffling around the barroom flourish- 
ing a scalping-knife on the handle of which were numerous notches, 
and boasting in a monotonous tone of the bloody deeds recorded on 
the handle. Nine marks indicated the number of scalps of white 
men killed during the war. 

Nick Stoner in a frenzy of rage left the kitchen after throwing 
the Indian into the fire, passed through a hall on his way into the 
front part of the inn, and almost stumbled over an Indian called 
Capt. John, lying there in a beastly state of intoxication. Noticing 
an earring in the man's ear, he placed one foot on the man's neck 
and grasping the jewel tore the flesh apart and dropped the jewel on 
the floor. Unconscious of the injury done him the Indian turned 
over with a grunt, and Stoner passed into the barroom, just in time 
to see the painted red devil flourishing his scalping-knife with yells 
and gesticulations, and hear him say, as he pointed to a notch 
deeper than the others, " and this is the scalp of old Stoner." 
Crazed with liquor and stung to madness by the thought of being in 
the presence of his father's murderer, he sprang to the fireplace, 
seized an old-fashioned wrought andiron, and with the exclama- 
tion, " You red devil, you will never scalp another one," he hurled 
it, red-hot as it was, at the head of the Indian, striking him squarely 
on the neck and laying him apparently lifeless on the floor, while 
his own hand was burned to a blister with the top of the andiron. 
At once bedlam seemed let loose and fears were entertained of 
other serious consequences, but the friends of Stoner succeeded in 
getting him to leave the house, while others induced the savages to 
leave town bearing their burned comrades with them. 



Chapter XIII 

Some Accounts of the Notorious Butler Family 

Shakespeare says: 

The evil that men do lives after them; 
The good is oft interred with their bones. 

Perhaps there is no name in American history that is more 
abhorred throughout the length and breadth of the Mohawk 
Valley than the name of Butler, through the evil deeds of Col. 
John Butler and Lieut. Walter N. Butler, father and son. 
Colonel John for his connection with the massacre of Wyom- 
ing, and Lieutenant Walter as the leader of the Cherry Valley 
massacre. And still their ev^l deeds were apparently confined 
to about four years of their life. In history, nothing is spoken 
of but the evil they have done, and their early lives are 
wrapped in comparative obscurity. We do not know when 
they were born, and the histories of the Revolution do not 
mention their ancestors. 

On account of a recent visit to the old Butler place on 
Switzer Hill I have become interested in the subject, and have 
taken the time and trouble to gather together facts about this 
family that appear in different documents relating to the early 
history of the Mohawk Valley and the province of New York. 
Lossing's Cyclopedia merely states that John Butler was born in 
Connecticut, and died at Niagara in 1796, and makes no men- 
tion of the date of his birth or the name of his father. Among 
the colonial documents, however, we find the name of a Wal- 

211 



212 The Mohawk Valley 

ter Butler, who was appointed lieutenant August i6, 1726, by 
Governor Burnett of New York. He was probably connected 
with the family of the Irish dukes of Ormond and Arran, who 
were patrons of the Burnett family. On May 6, 1728, Lieut. 
Walter Butler was assigned to Capt, Holland's company at 
Albany. 

In 1733 the Crown granted to Walter Butler and forty- 
two others a tract of land near the Schoharie Creek, running 
south to Schoharie, and then following the line of Schenectady 
County to the Mohawk River. In 1735 fourteen thousand 
acres of this land extending from Fort Hunter along the Mo- 
hawk to Phillip's lock, came into the possession of Sir Peter 
Warren, the uncle of Sir William Johnson. 

On December 31, 1735, the Crown also granted Walter 
Butler and three others a tract of land in the towns of Johns- 
town and Mohawk, comprising four thousand acres. On the 
Tryon map of 1779 this grant is shown as lying between Trips 
(Tribes) Hill and Johnstown. This seems to connect Walter 
Butler, senior, with the Butler place near Switzer Hill. 

(Bear in mind that this Walter Butler was the grandfather 
of Walter N, Butler, of the Cherry Valley massacre notoriety.) 

In 1733 he was a witness to a deed at Fort Hunter. In 
1747 Sir William Johnson sent Lieut. Walter Butler on a mis- 
sion to Crown Point. A little later Captain Walter Butler 
(having been promoted) was sent to Oswego with his son, 
John, as interpreter. Between 1756 and 1765 Captain John 
Butler was frequently in attendance at conferences of the In- 
dians and Sir William Johnson at Fort Johnson, sometimes 
as one of the interpreters. We know that Captain John But- 
ler was afterward made a colonel, and his son, Walter, a lieu- 
tenant of the British troops. In 1743 Walter Butler, Sr. , 
erected a frame house on his grant on Switzer Hill, which 
afterwards became the home of his son, Colonel John, and 



Accounts of the Notorious Butler Family 213 

grandson, Lieut. Walter N. Butler, and was confiscated when 
Colonel John fled to Canada, during the war of the Revolu- 
tion, with Sir John Johnson and his tories. 

The Rev. Gideon Hawley, in his journey to Broome 
County, in 1753, records that Lieutenant (John) Butler was in 
charge of a sergeant and a few privates at Fort Hunter, where 
he resided with his family. Some time previous to 1753 he is 
said to have been one of the Connecticut colony that located 
in the Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania. This, I think, is a 
mistake, as he is known to have been located in the Mohawk 
Valley at the time of the local troubles between the colony 
from Connecticut and the Pennsylvanians. 

It is recorded that " the valley (Wyoming) was purchased 
of the Six Nations in 1754, by an association formed in Con- 
necticut, and called the Connecticut Susquehanna Company; 
but no perm.anent settlement was attempted till 1762. The 
next year the settlers were dispersed by the Indians." In 
1769 a body of forty Connecticut pioneers was sent thither by 
the Susquehanna Company, but found themselves forestalled 
by some Pennsylvanians, the Six Nations having in the pre- 
ceding year again sold the territory to the proprietaries of 
Pennsylvania, and for the next six years Wyoming was the 
scene of numerous conflicts between settlers from the two col- 
onies, both of which under their charters, as well as by pur- 
chase, claimed possession of the soil. This contest was at 
its height at the time of the Revolution, and undoubtedly was 
one of the causes that led to the attack and massacre of the 
settlers of the Wyoming Valley, July 3, 1778, or at least for 
some of the atrocities that were committed by former neigh- 
bors and acquaintances. 

That Major John Butler was in command of the Rangers 
and Indians at Wyoming is a well-authenticated fact, as we 
have it from his own report to Lieutenant-Colonel Bolton, 



214 The Mohawk Valley 

dated July 8, 1778. He says, " In this action were taken 
two hundred and twenty-seven scalps, and only five prisoners." 
This report alone is enough to brand him as an incarnate fiend. 
No doubt the Senecas were responsible for most of the atroci- 
ties, but Butler knew what to expect from his savage allies, 
and made no attempt to restrain them. The Senecas were in 
command of a noted chief, Gi-on-gwah-tuh, and a half-breed 
called Queen Esther, probably a daughter of Catherine Mon- 
tour. She is said to have killed fourteen of the inhabitants of 
the valley with her own hand. 

It is said that sixteen of the prisoners were arranged in a 
circle around a large stone, and held there by a large number 
of Indians. This little party had been assigned to Queen 
Esther. Striking up a chant, she passed from one victim to 
the next, and with a death-maul dashed out the brains of 
fourteen of her victims. Two escaped, by making a sudden 
dash through the lines, and fled to the woods and finally es- 
caped in safety. Catherine Montour, the elder, is an interest- 
ing character in Indian history. According to tradition, and 
her own story, her father was a governor of Canada, probably 
Frontenac, and her mother a Huron woman. Until about ten 
years of age she had been carefully reared and educated. 
During the war between the Six Nations and the French and 
Hurons, she was captured and adopted by the Senecas. 

Lord Cornbury, in a letter to the Lords of the Board of 
Trade (in London) August 20, 1708, says: 

There is come to Albany one Montour, who is a son of a French 
gentleman who came about forty years ago to settle in Canada. He 
had to do with an Indian woman, by whom he had a son and two 
daughters. The man I mention is the son. He had lived all along 
like an Indian. Sometime ago the elder Montour had left the 
French, and had lived among the far Indians (Senecas), and it is 
chiefly by his means that I have prevailed with those far nations to 
come to Albany. 




Si^aj^fl'^^Jt*^ 



illt. i_..v kl'-HOUSE, JOHNsTOWN, 1772 



21'5 



Accounts of the Notorious Butler Family 217 

In 1694 Mr. Montour was wounded by two Mohawk Indians 
near Fort La Motte. A letter dated Quebec, Nov. 14, 1706, 
and written by M. de Vandreuil, says: " He was devoted to 
the English, and in their pay; lived with the Senecas. " He 
was killed by Lieut. Sieur de Joncaire, by order of M. de 
Vandreuil. 

Captain Andrew Montour, the son spoken of above, acted 
as an interpreter for the Indian Commissioners in 1756; also 
sang Indian war-songs before Sir William Johnson at Fort 
Johnson, and presented scalps to Sir William at Johnson 
Hall in 1764. There is also a record of Mrs. Montour as an 
interpreter in 171 1, at Albany. Stone, in his life of Sir Wil- 
liam Johnson, speaks of Mrs. Montour, and describes her as 
she appeared at a council of the Indian Commissioners and 
delegates from the Six Nations, at Lancaster, Pa., in 1744: 

Although so young when made a prisoner, she had nevertheless 
preserved her language; and being in youth and middle age very 
handsome and of good address, she had been greatly caressed by 
the gentlewomen of Philadelphia during her occasional visits to that 
city with her people on business. Indeed she was always held in 
great esteem by the white people, invited to their houses, and enter- 
tained with marked civility. 

It is pretty hard to believe that the woman described above 
should in her old age have become a fiend incarnate. It is 
said of her, after the battle of Wyoming: " Catherine Mon- 
tour, who might well be termed a fury, acted a conspicuous 
part in this tragedy. She followed in the train of the victori- 
ous army, ransacking the heap of slain, and with her arms 
covered with gore, barbarously murdered the wounded, who 
in vain supplicated for their lives " (Campbell). 

Among the Indians that were driven out of the Seneca 
country by General Sullivan was Catherine Montour. This 



2i8 The Mohawk Valley 

creature was treated with considerable attention by some of 
the British officers. It is said that she had two sons, who 
were leaders of bands at the massacre of Wyoming, which fact 
consequently imparted additional consequence to her. One 
of Catherine Montour's sons took a Mr. Cannon prisoner at 
Cherry Valley. He was an aged man and had been severely 
wounded by a musket ball. On their arrival in the Indian 
country, Catherine addressed her son in English in the pres- 
ence of Mr. Cannon, saying: 

" Why did you bring that old man a prisoner ? Why did 
you not kill him when you took him prisoner ? " (I am in- 
debted to William Campbell's Annals of Trjon County for the 
above incident). 

A John Montour is found among Lieutenant Walter N. 
Butler's forces, after the massacre of Cherry Valley, in com- 
mand of a party of Senecas, and Rowland Montour defeated 
Colonel Cairns near Catawisse, during General Sullivan's raid, 
and was wounded in the arm and died a week later. These 
men were probably sons or grandsons of Catherine Montour. 

In E. Cruikshank's Butler s Rangers, published at Fort 
Erie in 1893, we find the following account of the Butler 
family : 

Lieut. Walter Butler, a young Irish subaltern, claiming descent 
from the illustrious family of Ormonde, came with his regiment to 
America in the early part of the i8th century, from which he was 
exchanged into one of the independent companies formed for ser- 
vice in the colonies, and afterward incorporated as the Royal Ameri- 
cans or 60th. In the course of his service he made himself useful to 
Sir William Johnson, who in return exerted himself for the advance- 
ment of the Butler family. . . . He had two sons: John, the 
eldest, was born at New London, Conn., in 1725, and educated in 
the same province, 

and Walter, junior, who was killed at Crown Point, on Sep- 
tember 8, 1755, at the same time that Parrel Wade, Johnson's 



Accounts of the Notorious Butler Family 219 

brother-in-law, and the celebrated Mohawk chief, Hendrick, 
were killed. 

Walter Butler, Sr., died in 1760, at the age of ninety, hav- 
ing been a lieutenant in the British army for seventy years. 
Lieutenant Walter, the brother of Colonel John Butler, who 
is spoken of as having been killed at Crown Point in 1/55' ^^s 
undoubtedly a son-in-law of Jan Wemp (Wemple) of Fort 
Hunter, who died in 1749, as in his will he bequeaths a por- 
tion of his estate to " my daughter, Maria Butler, wife of 
Lieutenant Walter Butler, Jr." 

Cruikshank, speaking again of Captain John Butler, says: 

He went in 1760 with General Amherst to Montreal, as second in 
command of the Indians. During Pontiac's war he was actively 
employed in the difficult task of restraining the Six Nations from 
joining the hostile Indians. Owing to his intimate knowledge of 
several Indian languages, he was constantly employed by Sir Wil- 
liam Johnson, up to the hour of his death, as interpreter at the most 
important councils. He then resided at his iine estate at Butlers- 
burg (Switzer Hill), near Caughnawaga, and was one of the judges 
of the county court, and lieutenant-colonel of Guy Johnson's militia. 
Sir William Johnson had nominated him an executor of his will; 
but from some unknown cause he had incurred the pronounced dis- 
like, if not the positive enmity of Sir John Johnson. Besides his 
wife, his family consisted of Walter N., the eldest son, lately ad- 
mitted to the bar, " a youth of spirit, sense, and ability " ; Thomas, 
still under twenty, two younger sons, and a daughter. 

It may be said that Colonel John Butler appears to have 
been a close friend of Sir William Johnson, and associated 
with him in many of the political and military schemes of those 
early days. In 1772 the first court of general quarter sessions 
was held at Johnstown^ and the judges were Guy Johnson, 
John Butler, and Peter Conyne. After the death of Sir Wil- 
liam Johnson, on July ii, 1774, John Butler and his son Wal- 
ter N., are said to have been in close official and social relations 



2 20 The Mohawk Valley 

with Sir John Johnson, and the elder Butler is spoken of as 
being a wealthy and influential resident of Tryon county. Of 
Walter N. Butler, we know that he was about the age of Sir 
John Johnson and that he was his playmate in boyhood, and 
the comrade and friend of his manhood. The only description 
we have seen of Walter N. Butler is found in Harold Frederic's 
charming book, /;/ tlie Valley. In this book his descriptions 
have been so true to history that it is safe to assume that his 
researches have enabled him to give a pretty correct account 
of Walter N. Butler's person and character. He speaks of 
him at the age of twenty-three, and says: 

He was a handsome youth, with features cut as in a cameo, and 
pale-brown, smooth skin, and large, deep eyes; he was not tall, but 
formed with perfect delicacy. He dressed, too, with remarkable 
taste, contriving always to appear the gentleman, yet not out of 
place in the wilderness. He wore his own black hair, carelessly 
tied or flowing, and with no thought of powder. 

He speaks of him as being " of a solemn and meditative 
nature, and filled to his nostrils with pride about his ancestors, 
the Dukes of Ormonde." He was, however, of excitable nat- 
ure, and his being a constant companion of the Johnsons in their 
dissipations, undoubtedly changed his nature somewhat during 
the next trying six years. He studied law, and is spoken of as 
a pretty able young lawyer. Both father and son were at the 
siege of Fort Schuyler in 1777, with Colonel St. Leger, Sir 
John Johnson, and Joseph Brant, as we read of Colonel John 
Butler and two others entering the fort under a white flag with 
a bombastic demand for its surrender, which was indignantly 
refused by the commanding officer, Colonel Gansevoort. We 
also read of Colonel John Butler at the battle of Oriskany, 
where he caused the Royal Greens to turn their coats in order 
to deceive Herkimer's men, by pretending that they were 



Accounts of the Notorious Butler Family 221 

friends from the fort. The ruse was discovered, and the 
Royal Greens were put to rout. After the battle of Oriskany, 
Lieutenant Walter secretly came to the house of one Shoe- 
maker, near Fort Clayton, on a secret mission from Sir John 
Johnson, and together with Han Yost Schuyler and others, 
were captured at. Shoemaker's house, tried by order of General 
Benedict Arnold, and condemned to death as a spy. Owing 
to the solicitation of some of the American officers, the sen- 
tence of death was remitted, and Walter N. Butler was sent 
to Albany and placed in prison. Feigning sickness, and 
through the clemency of Lafayette, he was removed to a pri- 
vate house from which he managed, with the help of friends, 
to escape, and returned to the British army burning with indig- 
nation at what he termed the outrage of having his sacred 
person confined in a rebel prison. 

He made his way direct to Niagara, and requested and op- 
tained command of a detachment of his father's rangers, 
•called the Butler Rangers, with permission to employ the 
force of Indians under Captain Joseph Brant. 

On his way from Niagara, Butler met Brant, who was dis- 
pleased at the idea of being assigned to a subordinate station 
under a man he disliked. However, he finally turned back 
with his force of five hundred Indians. This expedition cul- 
minated in the massacre of Cherry Valley, November 1 1, 1778, 
with all of its heartrending atrocities, undertaken by Walter 
N, Butler in a spirit of revenge on innocent men, women, 
and children, I0 wipe out the disgrace (?) of having been con- 
fined in prison as a spy. Campbell says that: " Thirty-two 
inhabitants, principally women and children, were killed, and 
sixteen Continental soldiers, and all of the houses, barns, and 
outbuildings were burned, many of the barns being filled with 
hay and grain." 

Campbell also says : 



222 



The Mohawk Valley 



Whatever may have been the motives or the conduct of Brant 
and his Indians, it will not wipe away the stain from the character 
of Walter N. Butler. The night previous to the massacre, some of 
his rangers who were acquainted in Cherry Valley, requested per- 
mission to go secretly into the settlement and apprise his and their 
friends of their approach, that they might escape the fury of the 
Indians. This he peremptorily refused, saying that there were so 
many families connected that the one would inform the others and all 
would escape. He thus sacrificed his friends for the sake of punish- 
ing his enemies. 

After this massacre, Walter N. Butler returned to Niagara 
with his forces and prisoners. On July 31, 1779, General Sul- 
livan's expedition against the Senecas was organized, which 
succeeded in driving the main body of Indians to Fort Niag- 
ara and Canada. During his raid he destroyed the crops and 
buildings of the Senecas, and, with the help of the friendly 
Oneidas, did not fail to kill and scalp many of the Indian men, 
women, and children, for which acts he has been severely 
condemned. 

In May, 1780, Sir John Johnson and the Butlers made their 
first raid through the Mohawk Valley proper, killing and 
plundering in every direction, and finally returned to Canada 
without being molested. 

In the autumn of 1781 another raid of Indians and Tories 
under Major Ross and Walter N. Butler met with a different re- 
ception. They first appeared at Currytown, near Canajoharie, 
October 24th of that year, and passed rapidly on to the vicinity 
of Fort Hunter and Warrensbush, killing and capturing all 
that they met ; then crossed the river and directed their 
course to Johnstown, with Colonel Willett and 416 men in hot 
pursuit. In the vicinity of Johnson Hall, Willett overtook the 
enemy and at once prepared for battle, notwithstanding the 
fact that Major Ross's force was greatly superior in numbers. 
(In a recent visit to Johnstown the battlefield was pointed out 



Accounts of the Notorious Butler Family 225 

to me by Mr. Edward Wells, a son of Eleazer Wells, and a 
brother of the late John S. Wells, whose family now own and 
occupy Johnson Hall. The chief object of our late visit to 
Johnstown was for the purpose of visiting the old battlefield.) 
William Campbell, in his Anna/s of Tryon Comity, published 
in 1 83 1, says: 

Major Ross and Walter Butler's force was encamped on the 
elevated ground a little north of Johnson Hall. The edifice, erected 
by Sir William Johnson, and in which he resided at the time of his 
death, is situated about one mile distant from the courthouse in 
the centre of the village, and upon ground descending gradually 
from the northwest to the south and southeast. The village plot 
descends to the north, thus forming a small valley between the Hall 
and the village. To a person in the village Johnson Hall appears 
to be situated on a lawn, beyond which no prospect opens to the 
sight. When arrived at the Hall, he perceives in an easterly direc- 
tion the range of Mayfield hills or mountains, while to the south are 
seen Anthony's Nose, on the Mohawk, beyond that Charleston, and 
still further on, the hills between Canajoharie and Cherry Valley; 
and at a distance of between thirty to forty miles, the blue, cloud- 
like mountains leading to the Catskills and Delaware. 

Colonel Willett with his inferior force was compelled to re- 
sort to strategy in attacking. Accordingly, he detached one 
hundred men under Colonel Harper to gain the rear of the en- 
emy by a circuitous march around the hill to the west and 
north of the Hall and fall upon them in the rear, while Colonel 
Willett attacked them in front. A short distance above the 
Hall, Colonel Willett was met by Ross with all his force, and 
his men gave way at the first fire and retreated. Willett en- 
deavored to rally them at the Hall, but failed. At the stone 
church (old St, John's) in the village he at last induced them 
to make a stand, and being joined by two hundred militia who 
had just arrived, again advanced to the attack. The detach- 
ment under Colonel Harper, having gained the rear, opened a 
15 



226 The Mohawk Valley 

vigorous fire on the enemy, and obstinately maintained an iin- 
equal contest, which gave Willett time to form his men anew 
and again attack the enemy in front. 

At nightfall, after a severe struggle, Major Ross's force, over- 
come and harassed on all sides, fled in confusion to the woods, 
not halting to encamp until they had gone several miles. In 
this engagement the Americans lost about forty; the enemy 
about the same number killed and fifty taken prisoners. 

Major Ross retreated up the north side of the Mohawk, 
marching all night, after the battle. In the morning he was 
pursued by Colonel Willett, but was not overtaken. It was in 
this retreat that Walter N. Butler was killed. He was pur- 
sued by a small party of Oneida Indians. When he arrived 
at West Canada Creek, about fifteen miles above Herkimer, 
he swam his horse across the stream, and then, turning 
around, defied his pursuers, who were on the opposite side. 
An Oneida Indian immediately discharged his rifle and 
wounded him, and he fell. Throwing down his rifle and 
blanket, the Indian plunged into the creek and swam across. 
As soon as he gained the opposite bank, he raised his toma- 
hawk, and with a yell sprang like a tiger upon his fallen foe. 
Butler supplicated, though in vain, for mercy; the Oneida, 
with uplifted axe, shouted in his broken English, " Sherry 
Valley! Remember Sherry Valley ?" and then buried it in 
his brains. He tore the scalp from his victim still quivering 
in the agonies of death, and when the remainder of the Onei- 
das joined him, the spirit of Walter N. Butler had gone. The 
body was left unburied where he fell. The place where he 
crossed is called Butler's Ford to this day. 

The following story is told by Dawson in his Battles of the 
United States. It occurred in Sullivan's expedition against 
the Senecas. Lieutenant Boyd and Sergeant Parker were 
taken prisoners by the Indians: 



Accounts of the Notorious Butler Family 227 

Knowing the certainty of his fate unless immediate relief was 
afforded, Lieut. Boyd asked for Joseph Brant, who commanded the 
Indians who had captured him. On being taken before Brant he 
gave the Masonic sign of distress and claimed from him the protec- 
tion of " a brother," and was assured by the chief that he should 
suffer no harm. The prisoners were conducted to Little Beards- 
town, and Boyd was well treated; but during a short absence of 
Joseph Brant, Col. John Butler — the infamous Tory chief — called 
on the prisoners for information respecting the American army. 
Declining to answer, they were threatened with torture, but still 
lefused; and with fiend-like cruelty — such as none but Butler and 
his kind could invent, and none but savages execute — the threat 
was enforced, and Boyd and Parker fell, martyrs in the cause of 
their country. 

The remains of these brave soldiers were found two days after- 
ward by their comrades and buried at Little Beardstown. 

In August, 1842, their bodies were disinterred and buried 
with appropriate ceremonies in Mount Hope Cemetery, near 
Rochester, N. Y. 

When I began this record with a quotation from Shakes- 
peare, I expected to be able to prove its truth by showing that 
although the evil these men did lives after their death, there 
must have been some inherent goodness in their lives that was 
overshadowed by their acts and " buried with their bones." 
But I have searched in vain for a single kindly act or generous 
impulse of Captain Butler and his infamous son, Walter N, 
When their acts are compared with those of Joseph Brant, 
their deeds are the deeds of savages, and Brant's the acts of a 
noble, generous man. 

The Butlers appear to have been not only arrogant and 
supercilious in a high degree, but barbarous, treacherous, re- 
vengeful, ferocious, merciless, brutal, diabolically wicked and 
cruel; with the spirit of fiends they committed cruelties 
worthy of the dungeons of the Inquisition. No wonder 
their lives are not attractive to historians. In a statement 



228 The Mohawk Valley 

addressed to the New York Legislature, December 20, 1780, I 
find an account of some of the work done by the quartette 
consisting of Sir John Johnson, Joseph Brant, Colonel John 
Butler, and his son, Lieutenant Walter N. Butler: 

It is estimated that seven hundred buildings had been burned in 
Tryon County; six hundred and thirteen persons had deserted to 
the enemy; three hundred and fifty-four families had abandoned 
their dwellings; one hundred and ninety-seven lives had been lost; 
one hundred and twenty-one persons had been carried into cap- 
tivity; and twelve thousand farms lay uncultivated by reason of 
the enemy. 

Truly those were the times that tried men's souls. 
Robert Campbell says of the Butlers: 

Col. John Butler had some good traits of character and in his 
calm moments would regret the ravages committed by the Indians 
and Tories, but \Valter N. Butler was distinguished from youth for 
his severe, acrimonious disposition. After the massacre at Cherry 
Valley, he went to Quebec, but General Haldiman, governor of 
Canada, gave out that he did not wish to see him. 

When Col. John Butler went to Canada he left his wife and 
children in Montgomery County. The committee of safety refused 
permission for them to join him. Walter N. Butler wrote to the 
committee proposing an exchange of Mrs. Campbell and her child- 
ren (who had been taken prisoners at Cherry Valley) for his mother 
and brother. This exchange was finally agreed to and the family 
were reunited at Niagara. 

A Canadian, E. Cruikshank, in a book called Butler s 
Rangers, has given a short history of the Johnsons and the 
raids of Butler's Rangers, from the English or Canadian 
standpoint. Of course he assumes that Sir William, if he had 
lived and taken part in the stirring scenes of the Revolution, 
would have been loyal to King George, and that his influence 
would have made Tories of a large number of the residents of 
the Mohawk Valley, who were afterward bitter opponents to 
liis unpopular son, Sir John Johnson. 



Accounts of the Notorious Butler Family 229 

It is quite interesting to note his reasons and cause for the 
Revolution, in the province of New York. Some of them no 
doubt will be new to many of my readers. He says: 

The power of the Loyalist (Tory) party was probably greater in 
New York than in any other province, but their leaders lacked the 
courage needful to turn it to the best advantage. The wealthy 
merchants, the proprietors of the great feudal manors, the adherents 
to the Church of England, the Dutch farmers and the recent German 
immigrants were generally disposed to be loyal or absolutely neutral. 
In the city of New York, two-thirds of the property was owned-by 
Loyalists, and outside there was scarcely a symptom of disaffection. 
But there was a small party of violent revolutionists prepared to go 
to any length, and they dangled before the eyes of many discon- 
tented, lawless men almost irresistible temptations to join them. 
There was an enormous quantity of land held by a few active 
Loyalists which might be parcelled out among their followers; there 
was, too, a debt of eight or nine millions of pounds due to British 
merchants which might be repudiated. There was, besides, illimit- 
able liberty to gratify their passions and do whatever seemed right 
in their own eyes." 

Rather a sordid view to take of the causes that produced 
the birth of our glorious Republic. Nothing said about the 
injustice and oppression of rulers, nothing about love of coun- 
try and the desire for political and religious freedom and 
hatred of monarchical government which had been simmering 
and boiling in the hearts of the provincials ever since the mur- 
der of the martyred Lieutenant-Governor Jacob Leisler, who 
was executed in New York City on May i6, 1691. 

After speaking of the apathy of the people in New York, 
and the fact that " the inhabitants of Tryon County were, to 
all appearance, among the most loyal and contented," he says: 

The great proprietors and wealthy families here were Loyalists 
(Tories) to a man. Besides the Johnson family, the Bradts, Freys, 
Hares, Herkimers, Thompsons and Youngs, John Butler, Joseph 



230 The Mohawk Valley 

Dease, Robert Lotridge, Hendrick Nelles, Peter Ten Broeck, Alex- 
ander White, and many others, imperilled handsome estates, which 
in the end were confiscated. Large tracts of land were owned by ab- 
sentee Loyalists, such as the Cosbys, Delanceys, De Paysters, Wal- 
tons, and Gov. Tryon himself, and these eventually shared the same 
fate. 

Despite the influence of all these men the spirit of discon- 
tent continued to make headway. 

Sir William Johnson's latest project for improving his estates and 
peopling the country (in 1773, one year before his death), which 
was being vigorously carried out by his son Sir John, filled the 
minds of many of the original settlers with vague suspicions and 
alarm. For the most part they were descendants of sturdy Palatines 
that had suffered the extremity of ill for conscience' sake, and to 
whom the very name of Papist was abominable. For once Sir 
William failed to fathom the intensity of their religious prejudice. 
Though born in Ireland and bearing an Anglicised name, he traced 
his descent in the direct line from the Mac Ian branch of the Mac- 
Donalds of Glencoe. A feeling of kinship prompted him to enter 
into a correspondence which led to the immigration in 1773 of the 
MacDonalds of Auchallader, Collachie, Leek, and Scottus in Glen- 
garry, with many of their relatives and dependants, forming a body 
of more than 600 persons. 

They were all Roman Catholics. A few of the leaders purchased 
land; the remainder were established as tenants on the Johnson 
estates, and were supplied by Sir John with food, cattle, and agri- 
cultural implements valued by him at ^2000 during the next two 
years. To the peaceful German farmers around them they seemed 
a rude, fierce, quarrelsome race, constantly wearing dirk and broad- 
sword, and much given over to superstition and idolatrous practices. 
Accordingly, when Sir John Johnson fortified the hall at Johnstown 
and surrounded himself with a body of Highland Roman Catholics 
for its defence, they could not have appealed to the inhabitants in a 
more effective way. They had already learned to dislike the High- 
landers, and they detested their religion. 

On January 20, 1776, Sir John and about three hundred of 
his Scotch Highlanders surrendered their arms to General 



Accounts of the Notorious Butler Family 231 

Schuyler, aud were dismissed with assurance of protection 
while they remained peaceable. In May, 1776, they and their 
dependants fled to Canada with Sir John and settled on lands 
in what is known as the county of Glengarry in the province 
of Ontario, named after their home in Scotland. Although 
some of these Highlanders returned to the Mohawk Valley 
with Sir John Johnson's Rangers under Captain John Mac- 
Donald and participated in the battle of Oriskany and the 
raids on Cherry Valley, Wyoming, and the skirmish at Johns- 
town, it is probable that none of them or their descendants 
ever remained in the Mohawk Valley. 

In 1737, the year before Sir William Johnson made his ad- 
vent in the Mohawk Valley, it was proposed to people the 
upper Mohawk Valley with Scotch Highlanders. Captain 
Campbell, a Highland chief, came over to view the land 
offered, which, to the amount of thirty thousand acres, it is 
said, Governor Clark promised to grant free of charge, except 
the cost of survey and the King's quit-rent. Satisfied with 
the land and the assurances given him. Captain Campbell 
transported, at his own expense, from Scotland more than four 
hundred adults with their children; but on their arrival they 
were prevented by the intrigues of interested officers from 
settling on the tract indicated, and after suffering many hard- 
ships settled in and about Saratoga, becoming the pioneers in 
that locality as the Palatines were on the Mohawk. On No- 
vember 17, 1745, France and England being at war, this 
Scotch settlement was surprised by over six hundred French 
and Indians and completely destroyed, almost the whole popu- 
lation being killed or carried into captivity. It is said that 
thirty families were massacred. 

The settlement of Saratoga mentioned above was not 
located on the site of the Saratoga of the present day, but was 
situated on the bank of the Hudson near the mouth of Fish 



2^2 



The Mohawk Valley 



Creek, the outlet of Saratoga Lake. The surrender of Bur- 
goyne also took place on the plains near this old village in 
1777. This post was established about 1689, while it is said 
that the present village had for its first settler Derick Scow- 
ton, who built the first log cabin in 1773. 

The medicinal properties of the " High Rock" spring are 
said to have been known to the Iroquois at the period of 
Jacques Cartier's visit to the St. Lawrence in 1535. It is 
believed that Sir William Johnson was the first white man to 
visit this spring, being carried there by the Mohawks on a 
litter in 1767. It is said that the name Saratoga (Mohawk 
Sa-rag-ho-go) signifies the "place of herrings," " which form- 
erly passed up the Hudson and Fish Creek into Saratoga 
Lake." This I hardly think is true, as it is said that herrings 
do not run up rivers the same as the shad and other fish, and 
that they are always found in salt water. 

About the period of the Revolution many Scots came to 
the valley of the Mohawk and settled on land north of the 
present city of Amsterdam in the towns of Galway, Perth, 
Broadalbin (Breadalbane), and Johnstown. Many who settled 
in Perth came from Breadalbane and gave that name to their 
new home. 

It seems " the irony of fate " that the descendants of the 
three principal actors in one of the most tragic events in the 
history of Scotland should choose the valley of the Mohawk 
for their future home, — the MacDonalds of Glencoe, the 
Campbells of Argyle, the clansmen of the Earl of Breadal- 
bane, and, in later years, a descendant of Sir John Dalrymple, 
the Earl of Stairs, in the person of Mrs. Edward Reid, the 
godmother of the writer. The following story of the massacre 
of Glencoe is taken from Macaulay's History of England and 
the Talcs of a Grandfather by Sir Walter Scott: 

In the year 1690 all of Scotland had submitted to the rule of 



Accounts of the Notorious Butler Family 233 

King William and Queen Mary except a few of the warlike clans of 
the Highlands, among whom were the Camerons, Macleans, Mac- 
Gregors, and MacDonalds. The duty of subjugating the above 
Highlanders was intrusted to the Earl of Stairs and the Earl of 
Breadalbane and an order was issued requiring the clans to submit 
to King William and Queen Mary, and offering pardon to every rebel 
who on or before the thiriy-first of December, 1691, should swear 
to live peacefully under the government of their majesties. It was 
proclaimed that all who should hold out after that day would be 
treated as enemies and traitors. The Highlanders became alarmed 
and most of the chiefs and clansmen came forward and gave the 
pledge demanded. 

In the mouth of a ravine situated not far from the southern shore 
of Lochleven, an arm of the sea which separates Argyleshire from 
Inverness-shire, dwelt the MacDonalds of Glencoe, whose chief was 
known as Maclan of the MacDonalds, one of the fiercest and most 
rebellious chiefs of the mountains. Near his house were two or 
three small hamlets inhabited by his tribe, the whole population not 
exceeding two hundred adults. In the neighborhood of the villages 
was some copsewood and a little pasture land while the hills and 
crags were bleak and barren. To the north towered the peak of 
Ben Nevis, and somewhat farther to the east flowed the Cona, on 
whose bank in the third century was born the poet Ossian. In the 
Gaelic tongue, Glencoe signifies the Glen of Weeping. Mists and 
storms brood over it through the greater part of the finest summer 
and even in the brightest sunshine the impression is sad and awful. 
The path lies along a stream which issues from the most sullen and 
gloomy of mountain pools. Huge precipices of naked stone frown 
on both sides. Even in July streaks of snow are often seen in the 
rifts near the summits. All along the sides of the crags, heaps of ruin 
mark the headlong paths of the torrents. Mile after mile the only 
sound that indicates life is the faint cry of a bird of prey from some 
stormbeaten pinnacle of rock. All the science and industry of a 
peaceful age can extract nothing valuable from that wilderness; but 
in an age of violence and rapine, the wilderness itself was valued 
on account of the shelter it afforded to the plunderer and his plunder. 
Nothing could be more natural than that the clan to which this 
rugged desert belonged should have been noted for predatory 
habits. Successive governmetits had tried to punish this wild race, 
but to no purpose, as a small force could be easily resisted or 



234 The Mohawk Valley 

eluded by men familiar with every cavern and every outlet of the 
natural fortress in which they had been born and bred. It is said 
that the people of Glencoe would probably have been less trouble- 
some neighbors if they had lived among their own kindred. They 
were Papists and separated from every other branch of their family 
and almost surrounded by hostile tribes and were impelled by 
enmity as well as want to live at the expense of the Campbells and 
Breadalbanes. 

When the thirty-first of December arrived, the MacDonalds of 
Glencoe had not come in, but on that day Maclan and his principal 
vassals offered to take the oaths, but could find no person competent 
to administer them. In great distress he set out over the mountain 
to Inverary, but ov/ing to snow-storms and the natural obstructions 
of the route he was not able to present himself before the sheriff of 
Inverary until the sixth of January, 1692. After considerable hesi- 
tation on the part of the sheriff, because the prescribed time had 
elapsed, he at last agreed to administer the oath, and issued a 
certificate which was transmitted to the council at Edinburgh. It 
is charged that King William was not informed that Maclan had 
taken the oath, and that the papers were suppressed by Argyle, 
Stair, and Breadalbane for the purpose of destroying their enemy. 
The king was induced to sign the following order to the commander 
of the forces in Scotland: "As for Maclan and his tribe, if they can 
well be distinguished from the other Highlanders, it will be proper, 
for the vindication of public justice, to extirpate that set of thieves." 

The extirpation planned by the Earl of Stair was of a dif- 
ferent kind from that intended by the King. Stair's design 
was to " butcher the whole race of thieves, the whole damn- 
able race." The pass of Rannach must be secured. The 
Laird of Weems must be told that if he harbors outlaws, he 
does so at his peril. Breadalbane promised to cut off the re- 
treat on one side, MacCallum More on another. In due time 
a strong detachment was placed in command of Lieutenant- 
Colonel Hamilton, and it was determined that the Glencoe men 
should perish, not by military execution, but by the most per- 
fidious and dastardly form of assassination. 

On the 1st of February 120 men of Argyle's regiment, 



Accounts of the Notorious Butler Family 235 

commanded by Captain Campbell, marched to Glencoe. 
Campbell was one of the few men who were likely to be 
trusted by the MacDonalds, as his niece was married to Alex- 
ander, the second son of Maclan. At the sight of the red- 
coats, John, the eldest son of the chief, advanced to meet 
them with twenty clansmen, and asked wha,t the visit meant, 
and was told that the soldiers came as friends, and wanted 
nothing but quarters. They were kindly received, and were 
lodged under the thatched roofs of the little community. 
Provisions were liberally supplied; there was no want of beef; 
nor was paj'ment demanded. 

During twelve days the soldiers lived familiarly with the 
people of the glen, waiting for the time agreed upon when 
Colonel Hamilton, Breadalbane, and others would have 
secured all the passes and cut off all chance of escape. The 
officers spent much of their time with old Maclan and his 
family, and the long evenings were cheerfully spent with the 
help of some packs of cards and a little French brandy. Cap- 
tain Campbell appeared to be warmly attached to his niece 
and her husband, and came every day to their house to take 
his morning draught, and all the while observed all of the 
avenues of escape from the glen, and reported the result to 
Colonel Hamilton. 

Hamilton fixed five o'clock in the morning of the 13th of 
February for the deed, as he hoped to arrive at Glencoe before 
that time with four hundred men and have stopped all avenues 
of escape for the doomed chief and his. clansmen. But at five 
precisely Captain Campbell was to fall on and slay every Mac- 
Donald under seventy. 

The night was rough and Hamilton was not able to reach 
the pass on time, and while they were contending with wind 
and snow Campbell was supping and playing cards with those 
he meant to butcher before daybreak. In fact, he and 



236 The Mohawk Valley 

Lieutenant Lindsay had engaged themselves to dine with the 
old chief on the morrow. 

It was five in the morning. Hamilton and his men were still 
some miles off and the avenues which they were to secure were open, 
but the orders which Campbell had received were precise, and he 
began to execute them at the little village where he himself quartered. 

His host and nine other MacDonalds were dragged out of their 
beds, bound hand and foot, and murdered. A boy twelve years old 
clung round the Captain's legs, and begged hard for his life, but a 
ruffian named Drummond shot the child dead. At another house 
a Highlander was up early that morning and was sitting with eight 
of his family round the fire, when a volley of musketry laid him and 
seven of his companions dead or dying on the floor. His brother, 
who alone escaped unhurt, called to Sergeant Barbour, who com- 
manded the slayers, and asked as a favor to be allowed to die in the 
open air. " Well," said the sergeant, " I will do you the favor for 
the sake of your meat which I have eaten." The nv)untaineer, 
bold, athletic, and favored by the darkness, came forth, rushed on 
the soldiers who were levelling their pieces at him, flung his plaid 
over their faces and was gone in a moment. 

Meanwhile Lindsay had knocked at the door of the old chief and 
had asked admission in friendly language. The door was opened. 
Maclan, while putting on his clothes, and calling to his servants to 
bring refreshments for his visitors, was shot through the head. Two 
of his attendants were slain with him. His wife was already up and 
dressed in such finery as the princesses of the rude Highland glens 
were accustomed to wear. The assassin pulled off her clothes and 
trinkets and tore her rings from her fingers with his teeth. She died 
on the following day. 

Campbell and his men committed the error of dispatching their 
hosts with firearms instead of using cold steel. The peal and flash 
of gun after gun from three different parts of the valley gave notice 
at once that murder was doing. The sons of the old chief escaped, 
and from fifty cottages the half-naked men, women, and children 
fled under cover of the darkness to caverns in the glen, and when 
Hamilton arrived in broad daylight the work of destruction, as he 
said, had not been half performed. Thirty-two corpses lay wallow- 
ing m blood on the snow before the doors; one or two women and 
the tiny hand of an infant, lopped off, were seen among the heaps 



Accounts of the Notorious Butler Eamily 239 

of slain. One aged MacDonald, over seventy, was found alive, 
probably too infirm to fly. Hamilton murdered the old man in cold 
blood. The hamlets were burned and the troops departed driving 
away with them over a thousand head of cattle. How many old 
men and delicate women and children perished in the snow of the 
mountains on that fearful night can never be known; probably as 
many as were slain by the assassins. 

When the troops had retired, the MacDonalds crept out of the 
caverns of Glencoe, ventured back to the spots where their rude 
dwellings had been, and performed some rude rites of sepulture for 
their murdered kinsmen. 

Was it fate or retribution that brought about four hundred 
of the kinsmen of these murderers to the valley of the Mo- 
hawk a half a century later ? The settlement at Saratoga was 
composed of clansmen of the Campbells, and in 1745 met with 
precisely the same fate from the Canadian Indians that they 
had inflicted upon the MacDonalds of Glencoe in 1692. 



Chapter XIV 
Legend of Mrs. Ross 

A PARALLEL to the romance of the early h'fe of Sir 
William Johnson is found in that of a young soldier 
who died at Johnstown during the Revolution, 
although it had a different ending. In one of the 
suburbs of London, in 1779, lived a young soldier of poor but 
honest parents, by the name of Charles Ross, who had fallen 
in love with a beautiful young woman, presumably of rich but 
honest parents, who objected to the attentions of the young 
man to their daughter. As usual in such cases, opposition 
fanned the flames of affection and made their love for each 
other more fervent. 

About this time the regiment to which the young man be- 
longed was hurriedly ordered to Canada to assist the English 
troops in the campaign in New York State; but young Captain 
Ross found an opportunity to visit his lady-love before sailing, 
at which tearful interview they uttered vows of mutual and 
eternal fidelity to each other with a promise that if he could 
not come to her, she would come to him, and together make 
a new home in the New World. 

The persecution of her family, who desired her marriage to 
an elderly man of their choice, brought matters to a climax 
sooner than expected by either of the lovers, and made it 
necessary for immediate action on the part of the young girl 
in order to escape being forced into the obnoxious marriage. 
She dissembled as best she could in order to gain time to carry 

240 



Legend of Mrs. Ross 241 

out a scheme to join her lover in America. A typical EngUsh 
girl, robust and resolute, with ample funds for necessary ac- 
cessories, she purchased an outfit of men's garments, cut off 
her beautiful auburn hair, and secured a passage on a mer- 
chant vessel sailing for the port of Quebec, under the name of 
Frank Reade, her own name being Frances. Her father was 
a surgeon of repute with large practice. When yet a child 
she had evinced great interest in matters pertaining to her 
father's profession, and as she grew older was frequently his 
companion in delicate surgical operations as an assistant ; in 
fact, she was frequently called upon to render the assistance 
that the trained nurses of the present day so intelligently 
perform. 

Fate was kind to her, in so much that she was able to elude 
the vigilance of her parents, embark on the ship without arous- 
ing suspicion, and in due time she found herself in mid-ocean 
and a victim of vial-dc-mcr in its most distressing form. The 
ship's crew consisted of the usual complement of rough and 
profane sailors, and a kind-hearted captain with his young 
wife; the girl being the only passenger. During her attack of 
sea-sickness the captain and his wife were assiduous in their at- 
tentions to their young passenger, and it did not take many 
days for the wife to detect the sex of their patient, and to 
confide her discovery to her husband. When the paroxysms of 
the disease had been allayed and the patient was convalescent, 
she was told of the discovery the wife had made and assured 
by the captain and his wife that if she would confide in them 
her confidence would not be betrayed. Her story was soon 
told, and the remainder of the long voyage with its storms and 
its calms was passed in comparative comfort, with the sym- 
pathy and friendship of the captain and his kind-hearted wife. 

Landing at Quebec, Frank, in company with the captain, 
called on the commandant of the citadel in order to ascertain 



242 The Mohawk Valley 

where the regiment to which Captain Ross was attached was 
located, and was informed that it was stationed at Montreal, 
had been engaged in active service, and had lost many of its 
men in battle and through sickness. Her anxiety for informa- 
tion about Captain Ross nearly betrayed her secret, but the 
presence of the captain of the ship and his ready wit saved 
her from suspicion, and found a way whereby she was able to 
take passage on a sloop to Montreal, ostensibly to join the 
regiment there as a recruit. This voyage in the slow sailing 
vessel was more tedious to the young woman than the long 
voyage across the Atlantic, and she was heartily glad when it 
was over. 

Arriving at the island of Montreal, she ascertained that 
Captain Ross and his company had been detailed to join the 
rangers under Major Ross and Lieutenant Walter N. Butler 
at Oswego, preparatory to raiding the villages of the Mohawk 
Valley, the objective point being Johnstown, N. Y. , the re- 
cent home of the family of Sir John Johnson. The detach- 
ment had left Montreal but a few days before by the way of 
the upper St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. Somewhat 
disheartened but not discouraged, the young girl determined 
to follow the detachment if she could procure a guide and 
means of transportation. 

After due inquiry and with the assistance of the officer of 
the post, a Mohawk brave, familiar with the Mohawk Valley, 
was found, who advised going by the Lake Champlain route 
instead of Oswego. Procuring a Canadian woodsman's suit of 
clothes, consisting of a fringed buckskin coat, belted at the 
waist, skin trousers and leggings and a stout pair of moccasins, 
a skin cap, and hunting-knife in her belt, she was now more 
effectually disguised than while wearing the tight-fitting 
civilian suit she had discarded, and which had brought into 
prominence the shapely limbs of the wearer, but which were 



Legend of Mrs. Ross 243 

not at all conspicuous in the frontiersman garb she had chosen. 
After a delay of about a week, a suitable birch-bark canoe was 
secured and stocked with provisions for the long and lonely 
journey to the Mohawks' country. 

The first day of the journey was occupied in floating down 
the rapid current of the St. Lawrence to the mouth of the 
Richelieu River, the outlet of Lake Champlain and Lake 
George. Turning into the river the labor of the journey be- 
gan, as every foot of the route had to be won by the stroke of 
the paddle. For the first few days Frank could give the In- 
dian but very little assistance in using the paddle, but by per- 
sistent effort she was finally able to master the stroke and 
contribute her share toward the propulsion of their frail vessel. 
Two weeks were occupied in ascending the two lakes, and by 
the time they reached the head of Lake George, she was very 
glad to leave the canoe for the more arduous labor of packing 
their provisions over the trail through the forest to Johnstown, 
sixty miles away. Their packs were not very heavy as their 
provisions were nearly exhausted in their voyage up the lakes. 
Without any unnecessary delay the canoe was hidden on the 
border of the lake, the packs adjusted, and after a momentary 
glance at the sun and the surrounding mountains, the Mohawk 
plunged into the interminable forest and the last stage of their 
journey began. An hour brought them to the upper Hudson, 
which they forded at the Great Falls (Palmer's Falls) without 
difficulty. They were now in the enemy's country, which 
made it necessary to proceed with caution in order to avoid 
discovery from provincials and wandering bands of Oneidas, 
as their appearance would have attracted critical attention 
from any person whom they might meet. 

The young brave's well-knit form was clad in a well-worn 
pair of deerskin trousers, fringed and discolored, which were 
belted and supported by a wide strip of buckskin placed 



244 The Mohawk Valley 

diagonally across the chest and back and over the right shoul- 
der, leaving the balance of the upper part of the body bare. 
On his feet and half way to the knee were a pair of moccasins, 
laced with strings of deerskin; his head bare except a mass of 
jet black hair falling to his shoulders and half covering his 
face. In his hand was a musket and in his belt a small axe 
and hunting-knife, while his pack was held to his back by a 
string of rawhide. Following in his footsteps strode Frank, 
whose erect form and elastic step were but another evidence of 
the strength and vigor that shone from her dark blue eyes and 
flushed cheeks. The constant exposure to the weather during 
her journey of three thousand miles had browned her skin and 
hardened the muscles of her face and form, but did not pre- 
vent the flush of health shining through the dusky skin or dim 
the bright eyes. Her garments were weather-stained and her 
hair tangled and frowzy from neglect, but her general appear- 
ance was that of a hardy boy of eighteen or twenty years. 
Around her waist but under her buckskin coat was a broad 
belt filled with the open sesame of many people's hearts — 
gold. 

The trail led over and around the foothills of the Adiron- 
dacks, which are dignified with the name of mountains by the 
tourists of to-day, and led them through towering forests and 
tangled underbrush, sometimes treading with noiseless steps 
over beds of the needles of pine and tamarack, or toiling over 
masses of rotten trunk and spear-like branches ; sometimes 
plunging into dark and damp ravines and sinking ankle-deep 
into the soggy mould ; again climbing jagged rocks and almost 
perpendicular cliffs to some barren eminence with naught but 
the sky above and the October foliage of the forest below, 
with its boundless wealth of color, extending in every direc- 
tion until it was lost in the haze of the distant horizon. Far 
away to the west is seen the dim outline of the Mayfield 



Legend of Mrs. Ross 245 

Mountains, which the Mohawk points out as the goal to which 
they are toiling, and in the freshness of her vigor she urges 
him on until nature rebels and she pleads for rest. A camp is 
made, their simple meal prepared, and she sinks to sleep amid 
the perfume of the evergreen boughs that constitute her bed, 
dreaming again of the loved form and the enfolding arms of 
her absent soldier. Awake with the dawn with muscles tired 
and stifT, she urges the Mohawk in his preparation for the day's 
trail. This day they leave the mountains behind them and 
find the trail well beaten and over comparatively level country, 
but the night finds her worn and weary and the morning with- 
out energy. The succeeding days of her journey are unevent- 
ful, and at the close of October 24th they camp on a stream 
which the Mohawk tells her flows through the little village 
they are seeking. 

Throwing herself on the green turf while the Mohawk pre- 
pares their evening meal, supplemented with some speckled 
beauties from the stream, she gives herself up to reverie and 
longing for her lover captain. Arousing herself she becomes 
aware that the Indian is gazing fixedly at her, and as her eyes 
meet he says in a low, even voice, " Is the captain the white 
maiden's brother or lover ? " With pale face and startled 
eyes she asks him what he means. " The maiden need not 
fear," says the Mohawk; " her secret has been hidden in the 
breast of Onatassa many days, even since she killed the snake 
that lay in her path at the island camp on the Horicon, when 
she poised the stone over her shoulder before she crushed the 
reptile, and at night when she murmured the name of her 
lover in her sleep." 

Why did you not tell me you had discovered my secret ? " 
demanded Frank. " Onatassa's eyes were open, but his lips 
were closed," sentiently replied the Indian; " the maiden did 
not want to be known, and the paleface was still a lad to him." 



246 The Mohawk Valley 

That night Frank could not sleep, but tossed restlessly on her 
bed of evergreens until dawn, when her weary eyes closed and 
tired nature demanded relaxation and repose. 

The sun was well up toward the zenith when she awoke 
startled and bewildered to find herself alone. After her morn- 
ing ablutions in the stream she prepared food for her morning 
meal and waited impatiently for the return of Onatassa. An 
hour, two hours passed before his active form was seen coming 
swiftly through the forest. While she slept he had been re- 
connoitring in the vicinity of Johnstown, three miles away, 
and reported a battle in progress between the American forces 
under Colonel Willett and the British under Major Ross, and 
that the American forces had been repulsed. Hurriedly re- 
suming their packs the twain swiftly approached the battle- 
field, the girl eager and anxious as she drew near the end of 
her three-thousand-mile journey. Soon they were able to 
hear the roar of musketry, which, as they paused to listen, 
seemed to come nearer and nearer to them, and at last the 
forms of green-coated soldiers were seen apparently in retreat. 
Hastily withdrawing into a convenient gorge, a place of con- 
cealment was found for the maiden, and Onatassa advanced in 
the direction of the firing, which was apparently growing less 
and less in a westerly direction. 

As told in the last chapter, in the account of the battle at 
Johnstown, the American forces under Colonel Willett were 
repulsed in their first attack and retreated to St. John's 
Church in the centre of the village. Receiving reinforce- 
ments, Colonel Willett rearranged his forces and again ad- 
vanced to the attack, and after a stubborn resistance the 
British troops were completely routed and dispersed through 
the forest to the west in the direction of East Canada Creek. 

Captain Charles Ross sought in vain to stem the tide of 
battle, and his company, being the last to give way, formed the 



Legend of Mrs. Ross 247 

rear-guard of the army, which was more or less annoyed by 
small bands of Oneidas, While passing through a dense 
thicket he was struck in the chest by an arrow. Grasping the 
shaft, it became detached from the barbed flint, but with that 
one spasmodic action he fell unconscious to the ground. The 
retreating army hurried on, crossed West Canada Creek, where 
Lieutenant Walter N. Butler was killed by the Oneida, and 
in due time reached Oswego, leaving their dead and dying 
scattered through the forest. 

Having ascertained part of the above facts, but knowing 
nothing of the fate of Captain Ross, Onatassa returned to the 
gorge and imparted the information he had received to the 
maiden, advising that as the forest in the vicinity was being 
searched by the Americans in order to render succor to the 
wounded, it would be well to remain concealed until the fol- 
lowing morning, and then by a wide detour to the north to 
follow the trail of the retreating army. Making the young 
girl as comfortable as possible in her retreat, he again disap- 
peared in the forest, urged on by the desire of Frank to know 
the fate of Captain Charles. After twilight the Indian re- 
turned and reported that the captain was with his command 
at the crossing of Garoga Creek, but had disappeared before 
reaching the Guyohara (East Canada Creek). 

How long will it take to reach the Garoga?" asked 
Frank. " Six hours," replied the Mohawk. Strapping her 
blanket to her back, but discarding all else, the girl grasped 
the stout staff that had been her support over the trail from 
Lake George; she pointed to the moon near the zenith, and 
said to Onatassa: " Lead on while yet there is light." Mo- 
tionless, he gazed at that pale, anxious face, glanced at the 
moon over his head, picked up his rifle, and silently strode out 
of the ravine with the young girl following close in his foot- 
steps. Striking the well-defined trail that led to the village of 



248 The Mohawk Valley 

Johnstown, they soon left the gloom of the forest and skirted 
along the cleared lands north of Johnson Hall, and after about 
an hour's travel struck the trail of the British forces, made wide 
and distinct through the underbrush by the frantic efforts of 
four hundred soldiers eager to escape from the vengeance of 
the conquering Americans. Near dawn they reached the 
Garoga Creek, which was crossed without difficulty. About 
two hundred paces from the creek the Mohawk called Frank's 
attention to the fact that the trail narrowed to about twenty 
feet in width, showing that the troops were marching in a sem- 
blance of order, which made it much easier for the searchers to 
scan every foot of the trail. A little farther on, a spot of 
bright color was dimly seen at the side of the road, which upon 
examination proved to be the dead body of a British soldier 
wearing the uniform of the 9th Regiment, and undoubtedly 
one of Captain Ross's command. The grewsome sight was 
repellent to the womanly nature of poor Frank, and she passed 
hurriedly on, only to be startled by a snapping, snarling howl 
in the forest in front of them. Calling to herself that forti- 
tude which had been her support throughout all this weary 
journey, she examined every foot of the trail, eager yet fear- 
ful of finding that which she sought. 

At the howl of the wolf Onatassa shifted his rifle and 
passed quickly ahead to a point where the underbrush formed 
an almost impenetrable thicket. With a nervous spasm of 
fear, Frank clung close in his footsteps, dreading to be left 
alone even for a moment, her night's weary journey remind- 
ing her that she was still a womanly woman despite the strange 
garb that she wore. 

With a warning motion of his hand, Onatassa raised his 
rifle to his shoulder. Standing directly behind him, Frank 
was able to glance along the barrel of the rifle into the blazing 
eyes of a huge gray wolf that stood with one foot raised, as 



Legend of Mrs. Ross 249 

though startled by the footsteps of the yet unseen Mohawk. 
The sharp crack of the rifle was heard, and with a convulsive 
movement, but without a sound, the beast dropped dead 
where he stood. As Onatassa pushed his way through tlie 
thicket with the hunter's instinct to gaze on his prey, Frank 
became conscious of a low moan at her left. Her nerves now 
strung to the highest tension, she turned to flee to the open 
trail, but the cowardly impulse was instantly banished, and 
she advanced through the thicket in the direction of the 
sound, only to again shrink from the apparently dead form of 
another British soldier. As she gazed, a convulsive move- 
ment of the man, probably partially aroused from stupor by 
the sharp crack of the rifle, gave evidence that life was not ex- 
tinct. The gray light of dawn and the gloom of the forest 
barely revealed the form and the bright color of the garments 
of the soldier. Crying, " Onatassa," she hastened forward and 
removed the tall grass that partially covered the body, and 
disclosed the pale face of Captain Ross. Almost paralyzed 
with conflicting emotions, she uttered a low moan as she sank 
to the ground and pressed her cheek to that of the wounded 
officer. Instantly she raised herself to her knees with her hand 
stained with blood from the wound in his chest, and direcltd 
the Mohawk to prepare a litter for the removal of the captain. 
Two saplings were cut the proper length, and while the 
Mohawk was binding them together with crosspieces, Frank 
cut small branches of cedar as a covering to the litter and 
spread her blanket in such a way that it could be wrapped 
around the wounded man. Placing the litter on the ground, 
the captain was gently rolled on his right side, the litter placed 
close to his body, and then as gently rolled to the left and on 
to the rude bed. Quickly lifting the same it was borne out of 
the thicket and into the sunlight of the early morning. While 
Onatassa brought water from the brook, the girl bared the 



250 The Mohawk Valley 

chest of the captain and disclosed a flint arrowhead still im- 
bedded in an inflamed wound. Directing the Indian to bathe 
his face, Frank took from a pouch that hung from her side a 
small flask of brandy and a flat case containing a surgeon's 
emergency outfit, which she had procured while in Montreal. 
Forcing a small quantity of the brandy between the half-open 
lips, she watched the bared throat, and was grateful to see a 
convulsive movement that indicated an effort made to swallow 
the same. More brandy followed, and the pulse began to 
quicken. Opening the case and selecting a needle and silk, 
she bade the Indian gently remove the arrow point. A little 
blood followed, which was quickly washed away, and the wound 
bathed with diluted brandy. Glancing at the Mohawk she ob- 
served him looking intently at the arrow point, and as he 
caught her gaze he uttered the word " poison! " Without a 
moment's hesitation she applied her lips to the wound and 
drew the blood therefrom. This operation she repeated a 
number of times, until the blood ceased to flow. Again bath- 
ing the wound, she deftly sewed the lips together and made 
further attempts to revive her patient. His pulse grew 
stronger, a little color returned to the lips, and respiration re- 
turned, but he still remained unconscious. " Is there a house 
near at hand ? " she asked of the Mohawk, who stood near, 
immovably watching her efforts. " A hundred paces to the 
east is the log cabin of the father of Onatassa, who is in 
Canada." " Let us go there quickly," said Frank, at the 
same time taking one end of the litter. 

The captain was heavy and the road uneven, but they soon 
reached the cabin and placed the rude bed on the floor. With 
the aid of more boughs, a couple of bearskins found in the 
cabin, and a blanket, a comfortable bed was made, the cap- 
tain's coat and heavy military boots removed, and the patient 
placed thereon. 



Legend of Mrs. Ross 251 

Under the patient and intelligent care of the young girl the 
captain slowly improved, and before a week had passed he re- 
gained consciousness, but failed to recognize his nurse in her 
strange attire. The rifle of the Mohawk provided venison, 
the brook fish, and a trip to the village of Johnstown other 
necessities for the household, and the kindness of neighbor- 
ing settlers, assistance and products of the dairy. 

When the captain had so far recovered as to be able to pass 
part of the day in the bright sunshine outside the cabin, the 
Mohawk signified his intention of returning to Canada; but 
before he departed, Frank requested him to remain in the 
cabin two days longer while she went to the village to transact 
some business which she said could not be put off any longer. 
After giving specific directions to Onatassa for the care of the 
patient, she departed on her long tramp to Johnstown. 

The cabin of Onatassa was situated on the bank of the 
Garoga, on an oblong point of land formed by two ravines 
meeting, and was selected by his father because of a tradition 
that this point was the location of one of the earliest palisaded 
villages of the Agniers (Mohawks) when they were driven from 
their old home on the island of Montreal by the Hurons and 
Algonquins, just previous to 1600. No evidence was to be 
seen, however, except a few holes that marked the line of the 
stockade and a few mounds of black earth in which clam-shells 
and broken pottery were found. From this point the trail had 
become a wagon road, leading through the forest ; the low 
swampy spots made passable for the rude vehicles by logs laid 
close together, forming what was known as cordurby road, the 
road sometimes making a wide detour in order to reach ford- 
ing-places across the strc^ams. 

The morning that Frank left the cabin of Onatassa was 
bright and clear, with a suspicion of the Indian summer in the 
air. Attired in her woodsman's suit, the Mohawk's rifle 



252 The Mohawk Valley 

resting on her shoulder, for protection from wild beasts which 
were occasionally seen in the forests, she at once adopted the 
long, swinging stride that she had learned from the Indian in 
their long tramp through the wilderness. In perfect health 
and vigor, and with the thought of her errand uppermost in 
her mind, she made the journey to the village of Johnstown 
in safety, and put up at the tavern that had been kept by Gil- 
bert Tice, on William Street. In a former visit to the village 
during the illness of Captain Ross, she left an order with the 
village seamstress for some woman's underclothes, but not be- 
ing able to procure outer garments that pleased her, she had 
purchased a full buckskin suit, finely embroidered, that had 
formerly belonged to a Mohawk maiden of about her height. 
Heretofore she had been able to conceal her identity from the 
captain, but the announced departure of Onatassa for Canada, 
and her maidenly modesty, urged her to at once carry out a 
scheme to which she had given a great deal of thought, 
which was, to resume the garments of her sex and be married 
to her lover, that she might have the right to remain with him, 
and care for him after the departure of the Mohawk. 

After partaking of food at the tavern, she repaired to the 
home of Rev. John Urquhart, missionary to the chapel at 
Fort Hunter and St. John's Church, Johnstown. To him and 
his wife she told her story, and also requested their assistance 
in the necessary preparations for the marriage ceremony, 
which she desired to have take place the next day, immediately 
on her return to the cabin. Arrangements were also made with 
the landlord for rooms at the tavern until such time as suitable 
quarters could be procured elsewhere. 

The clergyman and his young wife entered heartily into the 
scheme, and the girl returned to the tavern with the under- 
standing that she was to return to the cabin early the follow- 
ing morning, and that the clergyman and his wife and the 



Legend of Mrs. Ross 255 

daughter of the landlord should follow about two hours later, 
in order that she could have time to make the necessary ar- 
rangements before their arrival. 

The next morning's dawn found Frank busy attiring 
herself, as far as possible, in garments to which she had been a 
stranger for many weeks. Making a bundle of those she could 
not at present wear, she again dressed herself in her woods- 
man's suit, and, after a hearty breakfast, procured a convey- 
ance, and in due time arrived at the cabin. After the usual 
morning greetings and a few minutes' care of her patient, she 
repaired to her apartment, which was one corner of the one 
large room, divided by a curtain made of blankets. Donning 
a silk blouse, belted at the waist, with lace at the neck and 
sleeves, the short buckskin skirt of the Indian costume, dark 
stockings, and a pair of English walking boots, she stood trem- 
bling and blushing. Her short auburn hair, wavy and rebel- 
lious, clustering around her forehead, her dark blue eyes, 
brilliant and tender at the thought of the coming meeting, 
knowing that in face and form she was a beautiful woman, she 
still delayed drawing the curtain that should disclose to her 
lover the woman he adored. 

The captain had arisen from his rude chair for the purpose 
of going out into the bright sunshine. As he turned his back 
on the curtained room Frank parted the blankets and took a 
step forward, at the same time uttering in low, tender tones, 
surcharged with the longings of a heart filled with the re- 
pressed love of many weeks, "Charlie, love!" Turning 
quickly at the sound, he beheld a vision of beauty endowed 
with " nature's charms in most superb profusion " standing 
with outstretched arms. A bewildered expression passed over 
his face, and he raised his hand to his forehead as though he 
would clear the mist from his brain, but a well-remembered 
motion of the upraised arm and the love light in her dear 



256 The Mohawk Valley 

eyes were not to be mistaken, and he clasped her in his arms 
and spoke the word she had so loner waited for, " Sweetheart ! 
Murmuring between his kisses and caresses, " Oh, my love, my 
darling, my sw^eetheart," she led him to his chair and kneeled 
by his side, while in answer to his eager questions she told the 
story of her long journey and her search for him in the wilder- 
ness. The sudden darkening of the doorway attracting their 
attention, they looked up to behold the tall form of Onatassa, 
whose dark eyes gave no gleam of surprise or emotion. " The 
white maiden's friends are coming," he said, and then im- 
mediately retired. And then Frank, or rather Frances, as we 
will now call her, with blushes told the captain of her journey 
to Johnstown, and the preparations she had made for their 
immediate marriage and removal to the village, that she might 
be with him always and care for him as his wife. She told 
him of the little cottage already furnished that had been 
hastily vacated by a family of Tories who had fled to Canada 
with Sir John Johnson, which only awaited his inspection to 
be secured as their future home. 

By this time the clerical party had approached the cabin, 
were greeted by the inmates, and as comfortably disposed of 
as the limited accommodations of the cabin would permit. 
After some very light refreshments, the bride being already 
attired, no time was lost in the final preparations for the mar- 
riage ceremony. In front of the cabin, which faced the east, 
the forest had been cleared, leaving a turf-covered space of 
gentle declivity to the creek below. Outside of the weather- 
stained log house Onatassa was busy toasting venison steak for 
their midday meal before a wood fire built under the shadow 
of a giant pine. Back of the house were tethered the horses 
that had conveyed the party from the village, while the scat- 
tered trees and the distant forests were brilliant with the 
bright livery of autumn. 



Legend of Mrs. Ross 257 

On the green sward was placed the captain's rude chair in 
the morning sunHght. Onatassa was called from his duties, 
and the minister's wife, acting as master of ceremonies, pro- 
ceeded to arrange the bridal party. The captain, still weak 
from his wound and the extraordinary excitement of the 
morning, was assisted to his chair, Frances kneeling at his side 
half facing him ; to the right of the captain stood the stalwart, 
half-naked form of the Mohawk, hastily decorated with paint 
and feathers for the occasion, as best man, and to the left the 
daughter of the landlord; in front the clergyman in cassock 
and cap, with the ritual of the Church of England in his hand. 

With solemn voice the words were spoken that made them 
man and wife, and with feelings of mingled joy and anxiety 
they prepared to leave the rude woodland home of Onatassa. 
A simple meal was prepared for the party, and the captain 
gently assisted into one of the wagons. The parting of 
Frances and the captain with the Mohawk was not without 
emotion, the girl lingering to the last to exj^ress her gratitude 
for his care and consideration for her in their long journey 
through the wilderness and his kindness and assiduity during 
the trying season of the captain's illness. The expressions of 
gratitude seemed more acceptable to Onatassa than the num- 
erous gold pieces that the girl placed in his hand. 

Already prepared for his return to Canada, he accompanied 
the party to the crossing of the creek, at which point their 
path divided. The Mohawk came to the side of the wagon as 
it halted at the trail, and, addressing the maiden, said: " The 
paleface maiden is happy to-day. May sunshine always 
brighten her life. The memory of her bright eyes will 
illumine the path of Onatassa in his journey through the 
forests." Abruptly turning, he swiftly passed along the trail 
without a backward look, out of sight and out of their life. 
Their journey to Johnstown was without incident, and the 



258 The Mohawk Valley 

following Sunday found them happily located in their new- 
home, where we will leave them. 

The following extract is taken from a London paper, 
printed in 1785, and dated Hammersmith, England: 

Died, at Hammersmith, Mrs. Ross, celebrated for her beauty 
and her constancy. Having met with opposition in her engagement 
with Captain Charles Ross, she followed him, in men's clothes, to 
America, where, after such a research and fatigue as scarce any of 
her sex could have undergone, she found him in the woods, lying 
for dead after a skirmish with the Indians, and with a poisoned 
wound. Having previously studied surgery in England, she, with 
an ardor and vigilance which only such a passion could inspire, 
saved his life by sucking his wound. During this time she had re- 
mained unsuspected by him until his recovery, when, as soon as she 
found a clergyman to join him and her forever, she appeared as 
herself, the priest accompanying her. They lived for a space of 
four years in a fondness almost ideal to the present age of corrup- 
tion, and that could only be interrupted by her declining health in 
consequence of the poison not being expelled which she had imbibed 
from his wound. The knowledge he had of it, and piercing regret 
at having been the occasion, affecting him still more sensibly, he 
died of a broken heart at Johnstown, N. Y. She lived to return 
and obtain forgiveness of her family, and died in consequence of 
her grief and affection, at the age of twenty-six. 



Chapter XV 
The Joseph Brant of Romance and of Fact 

THE late A. G. Richmond, of Canajoharie, who was 
curator of the New York State Museum at the time 
of his death, was very much interested in the early 
history of the Indians of the Mohawk Valley, and 
had been able to make a very complete and valuable collection 
of Indian relics. He acknowledged that it was his hobby, and 
his private correspondence was embellished with a small vig- 
nette, representing an old woman with a pointed hat, riding 
on a broom stick, with the legend, "We all have our 
hobby." 

From the frequent recurrence of the name of Sir William 
Johnson in these pages, you will undoubtedly infer that he is 
my hobby. But he is not, except incidentally; for the hobby 
that I claim or acknowledge is the early history of the Mohawk 
Valley and the location of early Indian villages east of Scho- 
harie River. However, as my avowed object is to place on 
record all available history of this section of New York, the 
prominent individuals who were connected with its early his- 
tory must necessarily often be brought forward. 

Perhaps there is no name that is as often spoken of in con- 
nection with Sir William Johnson and his family as the name 
of Brant, Joseph Brant. During the Revolution, from 1775 
to 1780, Brant and his Senecas was a name which paled the 
cheek and made mothers convulsively clasp their helpless in- 
fants, and caused many a strong man's muscles to grow rigid 

-'59 



26o 



The Mohawk Valley 



and grasp, with anxious look, the trusty rifle or the ever- 
present hunting knife in his belt. 

In Benson J. Lossing's Field Book of tJic Revolution we find 
the following account of this noted Indian warrior, and as 
other records seem to agree with it, it has been accepted as, 
in the main, correct: 

Joseph Brant (Thay-en-da-ne-gea) was a Mohawk of pure blood. 
His father was a chief of the Onondaga nation, and had three sons 

in the army with Sir William 
Johnson, under the great Mo- 
hawk chief. King Hendrick, 
in the battle of Lake George, 
in 1755. Joseph, his young- 
est son, whose Indian name, 
Thayendanegea, signifies "a 
bundle of sticks," or, in other 
words," strength," was born on 
the bank of the Ohio, in 1742, 
whither his family had gone on 
a hunting trip. His mother re- 
turned to Can-a-jor-hee (In- 
dian Castle) with two children, 
Mary or Molly, and Thayen- 
danegea. His father, Te^ho- 
wagh-wen-ga-ragh-kwin, a chief 
of the Wolf clan of the Mohawk, 
seems to have died in the Ohio 
country. His mother, after 
her return, married an Indian called Car-ri-bo-go (news carrier) 
whom the whites named Barnet; which by contraction became Barnt 
and finally Brant. Thayendanegea was called Joseph, and was 
known as Brant's Joseph or Joseph Brant. 

Sir William Johnson sent young Brant to the school of Dr. 
W' lieelock, of Lebanon, Connecticut, and after he was well educated 
for those days, employed him as secretary and as agent in public 
affairs. He was employed as missionary interpreter from 1762 to 
1765, and exerted himself for the religious instruction of his tribe. 

Lossing's explanation of the manner in which Thayenda- 




JOSEPH BRANT (THAYENDANEGEA) 



The Joseph Brant of Romance and of Fact 261 

negea got the name of Brant is quite ingenious and may be 
true, but the name " Brandt, a Mohawk Indian," appears in a 
conference held in Albany, in August, 1700, in connection 
with King Hendrick, and again in an Indian deed, also in con- 
nection with King Hendrick, dated July 10, 1714, which con- 
veys land that was formerly the site of the old Indian village 
of Caughnawaga. 

When the Revolution broke out Joseph Brant attached 
himself to the British cause, left the Mohawk Valley, went to 
Canada, and in 1776 went to England, where his education 
and his business and social connection with Sir William John- 
son gave him free access to the nobility. In 1786 he again 
visited England. It is said that at a social function given in 
his honor, he attended in all his gorgeous savage apparel, and 
was the centre of attraction. During the evening he was ap- 
proached by the Turkish ambassador, in company with some 
ladies. The Turk, thinking him a savage, took hold of some 
portion of his apparel to examine it, when Brant turned upon 
him in anger, at the same time uttering a hideous war-whoop, 
which so frightened the Turk that he fled precipitately, while 
many of the company ran from the room in consternation. 
The Earl of Warwick caused Romney, the eminent painter, 
to make a portrait of him which is said to have been an excel- 
lent likeness. 

In 1755, at the age of thirteen, he was with the Mohawks 
under King Hendrick (then a very old man) at the battle of 
Lake George, in the fatal ambush at Bloody Pond. He con- 
fessed to feeling so frightened at the first discharge that he 
clung to a tree for support, hardly able to grasp his gun. But 
this feeling soon changed, and he was able to continue the 
fight bravely and with calmness. We next hear of him at the 
battle of Cedar Rapids, in 17/5, where a party of British regu- 
lars and Canadians under Foster, and five hundred Indians 



262 The Mohawk Valley 

under the command of Brant attacked a small fortress de- 
fended by 390 Americans under Colonel Bedell, who, with but 
a small show of resistance, surrendered as soon as Captain 
Foster arrived. Meanwhile a party of 140 men under Major 
Henry Sherburne was sent by Arnold to reinforce the garrison. 
These were ambushed, and after a brave fight of an hour and 
a half they surrendered. Infuriated by the obstinate resist- 
ance of the Americans, the Indians butchered about twenty of 
their number. It is said that Brant tried to restrain the In- 
dians in their fury, but was unable to do so, although he was 
able to save the life of Captain Mclnstry after preparations 
had been made to torture him by fire.* 

In May, 1777, it is recorded in CampheWs A fina/s 0/ Trj'on 
County, that Brant and his warriors made an attempt to cut off 
Cherry Valley. They approached from the east side and recon- 
noitered the settlement from a lofty hill. He was astonished 
to find a fortification and quite a large and well-armed garri- 
son drilling on the esplanade in front of Judge Campbell's 
house. Considering it inexpedient to attack a well-armed 
garrison he withdrew and the little village was saved from de- 
struction at that time. Brant had been deceived, however, in 
regard to the effectiveness of the garrison, as the well-armed 
soldiers that he supposed he saw from the high hills were the 
boys of the village drilling with wooden guns and swords. But 
it is said that on their retreat they ambushed two of^cers, one 
of whom. Lieutenant Wormwood, was killed, and the other 
captured. Brant rushed from his concealment and scalped the 
lieutenant with his own hands. 

In the same year Brant was at Fort Schuyler in command 
of a party of Senecas, and also took part in the ambush and 
battle at Oriskany. Previous to this he and his warriors joined 
Sir John Johnson and Colonel John Butler, who had collected 
a large body of Tories at Oswego preparatory to a descent on 



The Joseph Brant of Romance and of Fact 265 

the Mohawk and Schoharie settlements. There Guy Johnson 
summoned a grand council of the Six Nations. There was a 
pretty full attendance at the council, but a large portion of 
the sachems adhered faithfully to a covenant of neutrality 
made with General Schuyler at German Flats in the spring of 
1777. 

The commissioner represented to the Indians that the soldiers 
of the king were as numerous as the leaves of the forest, that the 
rum of the king was as abundant as the waters of Lake Ontario, 
and that if the Indians would become his allies during the war they 
should never want goods or money. Tawdry articles, such as 
scarlet cloths, beads and trinkets were displayed and presented to 
the Indians, which pleased them greatly, and they concluded an 
alliance by binding themselves to take up the hatchet against the 
patriots and continue their warfare until they were subdued. To 
each man was then presented a brass kettle, a suit of clothes, a gun, 
a tomahawk and scalping knife, a piece of gold, a quantity of 
ammunition, and a promise of a bounty on everv scalp he should 
bring in. 

Brant was thenceforth the acknowledged head of the Six 
Nations, and soon after commenced his terrible career in the 
midst of the Mohawk and Schoharie valleys. Sir John John- 
son, Guy Johnson, Colonel John Butler, and other Tory 
commissioners bought the savages, placed in their hands in- 
struments of death, bargained for the scalps of the patriots 
and inaugurated deeds of horror which culminated in the mas- 
sacres of Wyoming, Cherry Valley, Schoharie, and points on 
the Mohawk River extending from Indian Castle to Warrens- 
bush and the isolated farms lying north and south of the river. 

The Oneidas fought with the patriots. The Indians of 
the lower Mohawk castle Avere not particularly active against 
the patriots, but the Onondagas, Cayugas, and particularly the 
Senecas, committed many an act of horror and earned their 
bounty of eight dollars for each scalp. 



266 The Mohawk Valley 

We hear again of Brant in 1778, when, with three hundred 
Tories and one hundred and fifty Indians, he overran the 
settlements of German Flats, when dwelhngs and barns 
were burned, grain destroyed, and stock captured. Neither 
scalps nor prisoners were secured, as the settlers took refuge in 
Forts Dayton and Herkimer, " and the old stone church of 
German Flats, which had been built under the auspices and by 
the liberal contributions of Sir William Johnson." It was 
during the spring of this year that Brant destroyed Springfield 
at the head of Otsego Lake. It is said that every house was 
burned except one into which the women and children were 
gathered and kept unharmed. Lossing says: " The absence 
of Tories in that expedition, and the freedom to act as he 
pleased on the part of Brant, may account for this act of 
humanity." The story of Cherry Valley and Wyoming has 
been told in previous chapters. Brant was with Walter 
N. Butler at Cherry Valley, but has been wrongfully accused 
of atrocities at Wyoming, as the Senecas at the massacre were 
under a chief called Gi-en-gwa-tah, and Captain Brant was 
many miles away. 

Brant and his Senecas were at the battle of Co-ne-wa-wah 
(now Elmira) between General Sullivan's army and Tories and 
Indians under command of Sir John Johnson. The patriots 
were victorious. The record says: " Brant, perceiving that 
all was lost, raised the loud retreating cry, ' Oonah ! Oonah ! ' 
and savages and Tories, in great confusion, abandoned their 
works and fled across the river, pursued by the victors." This 
battle is known as the battle of Chemung. It is said that the 
victors killed and scalped eight of the Indians in the pursuit. 
In April, 1780, Brant and his Indians and Sir John Johnson 
and the Tories, destroyed Harpersfield and settlements in 
Schoharie. It was during this year that Little Falls, Canajo- 
harie, and Fort Plain were destroyed. At the battle of 



The Joseph Brant of Romance and of Fact 267 

Klocks Field, during the raid of the Mohawk Valley in Octo- 
ber, 1780, the patriots were victorious. Brant was wounded 
in the heel, but escaped. 

Johnson fled toward Onondaga Lake, where his boats had 
been concealed. 

When Gen. Van Rensselaer heard of the concealment of the 
boats at that point, he dispatched a messenger to Captain Vrooman, 
then in command at Fort Schuyler, ordering him to go with a strong 
detachment and destroy them. Vrooman instantly obeyed. One 
of his men feigned sickness at Oneida, and was left behind. He 
was there when Johnson arrived, and informed him of Vrooman's 
expedition. Brant and a body of Indians hastened forward, came 
upon Vrooman and his party while at dinner, and captured the 
whole of them without firing a gun. Johnson had no further im- 
pediments in his way and easily escaped to Canada by way of 
Oswego, taking with him Captain Vrooman and his party prisoners, 
but leaving behind him a great number of his own men, and Tryon 
county enjoyed comparative repose through the remainder of the 
autumn and part of the winter. 

In January, 1781, Brant was again on the war-path in the 
vicinity of Fort Schuyler. The slender barrier of the Oneida 
nation had been broken the previous year by driving that 
people upon the white settlements, and the warriors from 
Niagara had an unimpeded way to the Mohawk Valley. They 
were separated into small parties, annoying the settlements 
and occasionally capturing supplies. Some of these pene- 
trated as far as Schenectady, probably to engage the Oneidas, 
who were located there at that time. In September of this 
year Brant was in the region now the State of Ohio, also in 
Kentucky, and, together with McKee and a party of Rangers, 
advanced on Boone's Fort and ambushed a party of horsemen, 
most of whom were killed or captured. This probably ac- 
counts for the fact that no mention is made of Brant's being 
present in the last raid through the Mohawk Valley, and final 
dispersion of the Rangers at the battle of Johnstown. 



268 The Mohawk Valley 

Here I would like to introduce an account of the raid of 
Ross and Walter N, Butler in October, 1781, taken from an 
English report. Governor Haldiman at that time organized a 
second expedition to destroy the remaining settlements in the 
Mohawk Valley. Sir John Johnson was sent by the way of 
Crown Point in order to strike the valley from the east. 
Major Ross was to advance from Niagara by the way of 
Oswego. 

A violent gale prevented the detachments from Niagara from 
reaching Oswego until Oct. 9 (1781). On the 17th Major Ross left 
his boats with a guard, in a creek falling into Lake Oneida, and 
marched toward Otsego Lake. During the march several prisoners 
were brought in from whom it was learned that Sir John Johnson 
had appeared at Crown Point, but that their own movements were 
as yet undiscovered. On the 23d they passed through Cherry Valley, 
and on the evening of the following day reached Currytown. Owing 
to the roundabout way they had taken their appearance was as un- 
expected as though they had sprung from the earth. As they 
hurried toward the Mohawk they took a few prisoners, who stated 
that there were a thousand men assembled at Schenectady, five 
hundred at Schoharie, and that Col. Willett was at Canajoharie 
with four hundred more. Duanesburg or Warrensbush (their 
objective point), lying centrally between these two garrisons, was 
deemed perfectly safe from attack. Major Ross perceived that he 
had no time to lose, as in a few hours his presence would be known 
at all these places. And although his men were already fatigued 
by eight days of steady marching in very bad weather, and much of 
the time ankle deep in mud, he marched all night through incessant 
rain and over fourteen miles of the worst possible roads. His men 
struggled gallantly to keep together, and not more than a dozen fell 
behind, worn out by fatigue, and were abandoned to the tender 
mercies of the enemy. At three o'clock on the morning of the 25th 
they forded the Schoharie, within gunshot of Fort Hunter, and two 
hours later halted near Warrensbush (fifth ward, Amsterdam), 
where they were allowed to rest on their arms until daybreak. 
The rangers and Indians were detailed to destroy the settlement, 
which was seven (?) miles in length, while the remainder of the 
troops moved along the main road to support them. They found 



The Joseph Brant of Romance and of Fact 271 

the place totally deserted, for the inhabitants had fled during the 
night. By ten o'clock they had advanced within twelve miles of 
Schenectady, and every building in sight was in flames, including 
three mills and a large public magazine. 

Ross then wheeled about and marched swiftly up the Mohawk, 
which he forded with much difficulty, as the river was swollen by 
the rain. A small party sallied from Fort Johnson to dispute their 
passage, but the officer in command was killed at the first fire and 
his men dispersed. The militia began to gather behind him, and 
Ross determined to retreat directly through the woods instead of 
attempting to return to his boats at Oneida Lake. Marching through 
the woods to Johnstown he halted in the fields near Johnson Hall. 

There Colonel Willett found him and gave battle, which 
resulted in driving Ross and his Rangers and Indians into the 
forest, as told in the account of the battle of Johnstown in a 
previous chapter. 

Although most of the raids in which Brant participated 
were in the Mohawk Valley and the West, there is an account 
of one as far east and south as Minisink, in Orange County, 
N. Y. The story is only a repetition of many of the horrors 
that were perpetrated by the Indians and Tories during the 
Revolution. It w^as in 1779, and this border settlement had 
been left unprotected by the withdrawal of Count Pulaski and 
his cavalry, who had been ordered to South Carolina. During 
the night. Brant, at the head of sixty Indians and twenty- 
seven Tories, stole on the little town and fired several dwell- 
ings. A small stockade fort, a mill, and twelve houses and 
barns were burned, and a number of persons killed and taken 
prisoners. The next day there was a gathering of many vol- 
unteers, and soon 159 hardy men were clamoring to be led 
against the enemy. Colonel Tusten, who knew the prowess 
of Brant, opposed marching against a large body of the enemy 
with so small a force. But the debate was cut short by Major 
Meeker mounting his horse, flourishing his sword, and shout- 
ing : " Let the brave men follow me; the cowards may stay 



2/2 The Mohawk Valley 

behind." These words aroused the assembly, and the line of 
march was immediately formed. There was the oft-repeated 
ambush, the fierce fight at close quarters, the exhaustion of 
ammunition, massacre, and only thirty of the brave men re- 
turned to tell the tale. 

It is said that during the battle Major Wood made a Ma- 
sonic sign, by accident, which Brant, being a Free Mason, 
recognized and heeded, and his life was spared and he was 
kindly treated, until the Mohawk chief perceived he was not 
a Mason. After that Brant treated him with contempt, 
although he was afterward released and joined the fraternity 
by whose instrumentality his life was saved. 

Many tales are told of Brant's savage cruelty, and he is 
often spoken of as a monster; but in almost every instance 
of horrible, bloodthirsty Indian atrocity the red men were 
accompanied by armed Tories, who assisted them in massa- 
cres, while Brant made every effort to restrain their savage 
instincts. 

From early boyhood he was a companion of the whites, 
and in his early manhood was an assistant of Sir William 
Johnson. By birth he was a savage, but by education a white 
man. It is hard to believe that a man who had been cared for 
by Sir William as though he had been his own son, and who 
had learned from him the virtues of generosity and concilia- 
tion, a man who had been placed in contact with the eminent 
white men of that period in business matters, one who was a 
friend of Dominies Stuart, Urquhart, and Kirkland, and as- 
sisted them in the translation of portions of the Gospel and 
Prayer Book into Mohawk, and exerted himself in many ways 
for the spiritual welfare of his people, could degenerate into 
the savage that early historians have pictured him. The Scot- 
tish poet, Thomas Campbell, makes the Oneida say, in Ger- 
trude of Wyoming : 



The Joseph Brant of Romance and of Fact 273 

This is no time to fill the joyous cup; 

The mammoth comes — the foe — the monster Brant, 

With all his howling, desolating band. 

Scorning to wield the hatchet for his bribe, 
'Gainst Brant himself I went to battle forth, — 
Accursed Brant. 

Brant was not at Wyoming, but many miles distant, and 
although Campbell wrote to Brant's son John a letter of 
apology and regret, his poems are still published with that 
damning falsehood. 

The bribe came from the British through Sir John and Guy 
Johnson, in the bounty of eight dollars for every scalp, and 
was the incentive for the murder of many helpless men, 
women, and children that Brant was powerless to prevent. 

The battle of Minisink was not a massacre but the exter- 
mination of a body of brave, stubborn colonists, who chose to 
die rather than surrender, although Brant offered good treat- 
ment if they would lay down their arms, but warned them of 
the fierceness of the thirst for blood that actuated his warriors. 

After the peace of 1783 he visited England, and on return- 
ing to America devoted himself to the social arfd religious im- 
provement of the Mohawks, who were settled at Grand River, 
Brant County, Canada, and on the Bay of Quinte. 

To Brant was intrusted the care of the silver communion 
set given to the Mohawks by Queen Anne in 1712 for use 
in Queen Anne's Chapel at Fort Hunter. Since that time 
its care has been transmitted to successive members of his 
family. In 1898 I met the great-granddaughter of Joseph 
Brant in company with about forty members of the Iroquois, 
who were in Albany to deposit some valuable wampum 
belts in the New York State Museum. Her name was 
Mrs. John Loft, and the babe at her breast was the great- 
great-grandson of Joseph Erant. Brant held a colonel's 



2/4 The Mohawk Valley 

commission in the English army, but he is generally known as 
Captain Brant. He died at his residence at the head of Lake 
Ontario, November 24, 1807, at the age of sixty-five years. 

As the name of Fort Schuyler appears frequently in these 
pages, it may be of interest to state where it was situated. I 
will begin by saying that there were two Fort Schuylers in 
western and one in northern New York. During the last 
French war, as it was called, a number of forts were built 
along the Mohawk Valley between 1755 and 1758. In 1758 a 
fort was constructed where the city of Utica now stands, and 
named Fort Schuyler, for General Peter Schuyler. 

Previous to 17 10 a fort was erected on the site of Fort 
Ann, and named Fort Peter Schuyler, which was destroyed at 
that date by Colonel Schuyler, as it was thought worthless 
unless garrisoned. 

The Fort Schuyler at Utica had been allowed to decay, 
and in 1777 was only a fortress in ruins. 

At the same date that the Utica fort was built (1758) a fort 
was erected at Rome, N. Y., and named Fort Stanwix. In 
1776 it was repaired and named Fort Schuyler, in honor of 
General Philip Schuyler, of Revolutionary fame. 

In 1 78 1 this fort, noted for its connection with the battle 
of Oriskany, was destroyed by fire and flood, and never rebuilt. 



Chapter XVI 

Incidents Relating to the Early History of Amsterdam 
and the Mohawk Valley 

IN 1609 Henry Hudson, an Englishman, discovered the 
East and North rivers, the latter of which he ascended 
in his boat to Aurania, now Albany, and soon after sold 
his right privately to the Dutch West India Company. 
In 1614 the States-General of Holland erected a fort at Albany 
and called it Fort Orange, In 1663-64 the colony was sub- 
dued by the English, and became known as the colony of New 
York. Albany was incorporated as a city in 1686. Albany 
County at that time comprised all of the land north as far as 
Canada and all of the lands west. 

At this time the present State of New York was possessed 
by the Iroquois and Canada by the Algonquins, the rivals of 
the Six Nations. Up to the burning of Schenectady in 1690 
that village was the frontier settlement in the west, its neigh- 
bors being Fort Orange on the east, fifteen miles away, and 
Tiononderoga, a Mohawk Indian village, on the west, now 
Fort Hunter. 

About 1710 the German Palatines and some Holland Dutch 
from Schenectady settled along the Mohawk River, but located 
in every instance except one on the south side. This excep- 
tion was one Geraldus Camfort, who secured a small grant of 
twenty acres in what is now the town of Amsterdam, on April 
22, 1703. 

On November 2, 1708, the notorious Kayaderosseras Patent 

275 



2/6 The Mohawk Valley 

was given to Naning Heermanse and twelve others, conveying 
about 700,000 acres which included all of the land in the 
present town of Amsterdam east of Guy Park through 
Perth, Broadalbin, and part of what is now Saratoga County. 
This grant was evidently fraudulent, as the Mohawks were 
told that they were only granting enough land for one or two 
farms, whereas it embraced land five times greater than that 
of Manhattan Island. As soon as this great fraud was dis- 
covered by the Indians they protested against it and resisted 
every attempt to settle on it. The patentees, as soon 
as they discovered how furious the Indians were at the 
deceit that would deprive them of such a large tract of their 
hunting-grounds, desisted from all attempts to settle or sell 
any of this tract for a great number of years, hoping that in 
time the Indians would be driven from the valley and leave 
them in possession of their ill-gotten wealth. 

During Sir William Johnson's residence at Fort Johnson he 
espoused the cause of the Indians in their desire to have this 
patent annulled. After a number of years he succeeded in 
having this grant reduced to about 23,000 acres, which 
embraced the land in what is now known as the town of Am- 
sterdam, east of Guy Park, and the town of Perth. Un- 
doubtedly the contest over this patent and the attendant 
hostility of the Mohawks retarded settlements in Amsterdam 
for more than half a century, and the fact that Sir William 
could not procure lands near his estate at Fort Johnson on ac- 
count of the Kayaderosseras grant was probably tlie reason 
that he concluded to build the town of Johnstown on lands he 
owned in that vicinity, instead of in the valley. 

In 1788 all of the land in Montgomery County north of the 
Mohawk River was called Caughnawaga. Previous to that 
time this district and the land on the south side was called 
Mohawk. In 1793 this town was divided into the towns of 



Early History of Amsterdam 279 

Caughnawaga, or Fonda, Amsterdam, Broadalbin, Mayfield, 
and Johnstown. In 1810 old Montgomery County was the 
largest county in the State, its area being at that time 1,767,- 
680 acres. 

Up to 1772, what is now Montgomery County was part of 
Albany County. In 1691 there were but nine counties in the 
State, and Albany included all north of Ulster and Dutchess. 
An attempt was made to divide this county in 1769, but failed. 
A second petition was sent to the Assembly by Sir William 
Johnson in 1772, and a new county was formed called Tryon 
County, which embraced all of the State west of a line running 
due north of the Delaware River through and along the eastern 
limits of the present counties of Montgomery, Fulton, and 
Hamilton to the Canadian line. It was named Tryon from 
the governor of the colony, and Johnstown was designated as 
the county seat on May 10, 1772. 

Governor Tryon was so devoted to the British interests 
that his name became obnoxious to the patriots of the valley, 
and in 1784 the name of the colony was changed from Tryon 
to Montgomery County, and comprised lands of the present 
counties of Fulton and Montgomery. 

In 1838 this county was again subdivided into two counties 
and named Montgomery and Fulton, Montgomery County be- 
ing named from the patriot. General Richard Montgomery, 
who was killed in the attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775. 
He had acquired possession of Chambly, St. Johns, and Mon- 
treal, thereby becoming master of the greater part of Canada. 

On August 29, 1735, Charles Williams and others were 
granted a patent for a tract of land in the town of Florida 
containing about 14,000 acres, which was soon after sold to 
Sir Peter Warren of New York, the uncle of Sir William 
Johnson. This tract of land extended from the Mabie Patent, 
at the mouth of the Schoharie or Tiononderoga Creek about 



2So The Mohawk \'alley 

six or seven miles along the bank of said creek to a point 
about midway between Mill Point and Burtonsville, thence 
from that point in a straight line about eight miles long to a 
point on the Mohawk River below Phillips's Lock, about oppo- 
site Cranesville, and was triangular in shape. It was on this 
tract of land that William Johnson was located when he came 
to this country in 1738, at the age of twenty-three years. 
William Johnson was born in Warrentown, county of Downs, 
Ireland, in the year 171 5. It is said that he fell in love with 
a young lady in Ireland, but was prevented from marrying her 
by her friends. About this time his uncle, Sir Peter Warren, 
made him a proposition to come to America and look after his 
landed estate, an offer he gladly accepted. He located at 
what was called Warrensbush, on the easterly border of the 
estate and the Mohawk River. He erected a small dwelling 
and store at a point on the Morris or John Blood farm, about 
midway between the brick mansion and the house of Walter 
M. Major, and about one mile from Alexander and Hamilton 
Phillips, brothers who had located at what is now called Phil- 
lips's Lock somewhat earlier. As early as 1716, one Philip 
Groat, a member of one of the Dutch families that had settled 
at Rotterdam, made a purchase of land near Cranesville, and 
was probably the first white man that settled on the north side 
of the Mohawk, in the town of Amsterdam. From that date 
until after the Revolution we do not find the names of any 
others who settled in this vicinity, except the Sir William John- 
son settlements at or near Fort Johnson — probably on account 
of the troubles over the Kayaderosseras grant. The grant to 
Philip Groat conveyed all of the lands between the creeks 
(about one mile) and as far north from the Mohawk as he 
might desire. This embraced the present site of Cranesville. 

The settler saw perilous times from the very beginning. It 
is recorded that Philip Groat when removing hither was 



Early History of Amsterdam 



281 



drowned in the Mohawk near Schenectady by breaking 
through the ice. He was in a sleigh accompanied by a woman, 
who was also drowned. His widow and three sons, Simon, 
Jacob, and Lewis, the latter being only four years old, with 
several domestics, made the intended settlement. They were 
the pioneers of Amsterdam, and were sturdy, courageous peo- 
ple, as evinced by the stories that are told of these early days 
that tried men's souls and bodies. In 1730 the Groat Brothers 
erected a grist mill at what is now Cranesville, said to have 
been the first mill of the kind erected on the north side of the 
Mohawk, and for a time served the settlement at German 
Flats, fifty miles away. The first bolting cloth was put in by 
John Burns, a German, in 1772. 
J. R. Simms says: 

In the summer of 1755, two hundred troops clad in rich High- 
land tartans passed on their way to Fort Johnson, six miles above. 
Groat, observing a gate across the road had been left open by the 
troops, went after sundown to shut it. When returning it began to 
rain, and for temporary shelter he stepped under a large oak tree. 
While there three Indians, a father and sons, approached him. He 
took them to be Mohawks, and extending a hand to the oldest, 
greeted him in a friendly manner. The hand was received and 
firmly held by the Indian, who claimed Groat as a prisoner. Find- 
ing them in earnest, and seeing them all armed with rifles, he sur- 
rendered. 

The Indians belonged to the Owenagunga tribe. They took 
him to their settlement in Canada, where he was forced to run 
the gauntlet. He was soon after sold to a French Canadian 
named Louis de Snow, with whom he remained as a servant 
until the declaration of war between Great Britain and France, 
when he was claimed as a British prisoner, and for six months 
imprisoned in St. Francis's Way, near Montreal. He was 
finally liberated and returned home after an absence of four 
years and four months. 



2«2 



The Mohawk Valley 



The manner in which the town and city of Amsterdam was 
named is not generally understood, or rather in speaking of 
the occurrence we are apt to get dates mixed. 

We will have to rely upon tradition for the naming of the 
town, as there are no records of that event. 

Tradition says that shortly after Joseph Hagaman settled 
at the place now called Hagaman in 1787, having made some 
improvements on his homestead, he began the erection of a 
sawmill. At that time (1788) all of the country north of the 
Mohawk was called the district of Cauglinawaga. The scat- 
tered settlers had assembled for the purpose of raising the 
frame of Mr. Hagaman's sawmill. This must have been a 
great event to the settlers of this district, and undoubtedly 
the occasion called forth all the able-bodied men for miles 
around. Those who may have attended the " raising " of a 
frame for a large building forty or fifty years ago will remem- 
ber the immense beams and posts and girders which were first 
pinned together with wooden pins and then placed in position 
for " raising." They will also remember that it was always ex- 
pected that the owner or contractor should furnish refresh- 
ments, — sometimes sandwiches, often crackers and cheese, but 
always whiskey or rum. 

This was undoubtedly a notable gathering, brought there 
for a notable purpose: the erection of a sawmill, which was 
almost as necessary to the early settler as a grist mill. The 
one to furnish bread, and the other the material for construct- 
ing the dwellings of those hardy pioneers. Undoubtedly the 
neighbors came from all points of the compass, either on foot 
or horseback or in the primitive vehicles of those early days, 
no coach, landau, cabriolet, coupe, or hansom in the proces- 
sion, however. I can imagine that Captain Emmanuel DeGraff 
was there, and, perhaps. Lieutenant Peter Groot, proud of the 
wound he received at the battle of Oriskany. Also George 



Early History of Amsterdam 283 

Shuler, Peter Van Wormer, and some of the Putnams and 
Hansons from Tribes Hill, Fred Lepper, Wm, Kline, and 
some of the Swarts, Adam Sixbury, Nicholas, Isaac, Jere- 
miah, and Frederick DeGraff, and a number of Scotchmen 
from Perth and Galvvay. Perhaps some of the lads and lassies 
accompanied their elders to see the fun. No doubt the ques- 
tion of the division of the large district of Caughnavvaga had 
been under discussion for some time, and the division lines 
practically decided upon. Naturally the question of a name 
for the new town that was to be, would be a proper subject for 
discussion, and when the name of Amsterdam was suggested 
and an informal vote taken, it was unanimously agreed upon. 

Upon the organization of the town at the final division of 
Caughnawaga, in 1793, the wishes of the residents were re- 
spected, and the. new town was named Amsterdam. The vil- 
lage at the mouth of the Chuctanunda was called Veddersburg 
until April 5, 1808, when at a town meeting, said to have 
been held in the house of James Allen, now a farmhouse 
owned by Stephen Sanford, being part of the Hurricana farm, 
the question of changing the name of the village from Vedders- 
burg to Amstersdam was submitted to a vote, which resulted 
in a tie. " James Allen, being president of the meeting, had 
a casting vote, and out of modest courtesy to the Dutch ele- 
ment, decided upon the name Amsterdam." 

Most of the histories of Amsterdam place the date of this 
town meeting in 1804, but from the records of the town clerk 
of the town of Amsterdam, it would seem that the correct 
date is that given above. There is no record of the vote 
spoken of above having been taken, however. The first town 
meeting of the town of Amsterdam, after the division of the 
old town of Caughnawaga, was held at the house of Isaac 
Vedder, on the first Tuesday in April, 1794, at which time 
the foUovvincf town officers were elected : 



284 The Mohawk Valley 

Daniel Miles, supervisor; John P. Allin, clerk; James 
Allin, Joseph Hagaman, Emmanuel DeGraff, assessors; 
James Allin, Emmanuel De Graff, overseers of the poor ; 
James Allin, Henry Kennedy, Emmanuel DeGraff, commis- 
sioners of highways; Nicholas Hagaman, Adam Nave (prob- 
ably Neff), constables; Albert H. Vedder, Myndert Wimple, 
James Allin, fence viewers; John Groot, poundmaster; James 
Allin, place of meeting for 1795, and a long list of overseers 
of highways. 

Building roads seems to have been their principal work, as 
it is the only business that is recorded in the books of the 
town clerk. 

Among the list of taxpayers in 1794 were: Jeremiah De- 
Graff, Frederick DeGraff, Isaac DeGraff, John DeGraff, John 
DeGraff, junior, Emmanuel DeGraff. 

On the tax-roll for 1794 we find that the assessment of Jacob 
Schuyler was ^412; Daniel Miles, ;^429; Albert H. Vedder, 
;^32o; William Kline, ^383; James Allin, £266; Frederick 
DeGraff, £260; John L. Groot, ^220; Ahasuarus Marselis, 
_;^2ii; Geo. Shuler, ;^2i7; Chris. Peek, ^252; Nicholas Brat, 
;^207; Ezra Thayer, £211. 

At the town meeting held at the house of Captain John P. 
Allin, on March i, 1803, it was resolved that the town meet- 
ing for 1804 should be held at the house of Gabriel Manny at 
Manny's Corners. At that time the place of meeting for 1805 
was changed back to the house of James Allin, where it had 
been held since the organization of the town in 1794. At the 
annual meeting in 1808 it was resolved that the next town 
meeting be held at the meeting house in Veddersburg. And 
it is probable that the vote changing the name to Amsterdam 
was also taken at that time (1808), as the record of 1 809 says: 
The annual town meeting was held in the meeting house in 
the village of Amsterdam." After that date up to 1812, 



Early History of Amsterdam 287 

which is as far as the record extends, the annual election was 
held at the house of Joseph Oosterhoadt on Main Street, 
where the store occupied by Isaac Adler now stands. 

I have not been able to locate the house of Isaac Vedder, 
spoken of as being the place of the first election of officers for 
the town of Amsterdam. The only Vedder houses that I have 
been able to find is one that was occupied by Volkert Vedder 
as laid down on the old map of 1807, and stood where the 
residence of Mrs. W. K. Greene now stands, and the old 
Harmonus Vedder house that formerly stood on the site of 
the present residence of Mr. Lauren Kellogg. 

The latter Vedder house was known as the Cornelius Mil- 
ler house, which now stands on the west side of William 
Street, where it was moved about twenty years ago. 

On a map made in 1807, we find two Vedder houses. One 
occupied by Harmon Vedder, standing where the dwelling 
house of Lauren Kellogg now stands, which I have mentioned 
before. Residents of Amsterdam will remember this house as 
the old Cornelius Miller house, which was, within a few years, 
removed to the west side of William Street, and is now known 
as No. 12. The other house was, in 1807, owned and occu- 
pied by Volkert Vedder, and stood where the residence of 
Mrs. W. K. Greene now stands. This house now stands on 
the north side of Greene Street, and is known as Nos. 7 and 
9, and belongs to the heirs of the late Mrs. James Bell. In 
one of these houses, probably the Cor. Miller house, the first 
election in the town of Amsterdam was held. The election 
for 1795 was held at the house of James Allen. 

At what time previous to the above date the Allen house 
was built we are unable to state, probably not many years. It 
was in existence, however, in 1793. It was evidently built for 
a public house, and kept as such for a good many years. 
James Allen conveyed it to his son-in-law, William Davis, 



288 The Mohawk Valley 

Davis conveyed it to Alfred Birch, who occupied it until 185 1, 
when he conveyed to Alex. Scott, who conveyed to John 
Chalmers, who conveyed to Stephen Sanford, who now owns it. 

Another old house is the Gabriel Manny, junior, house, on 
East Main street, about one-quarter of a mile from Elk Street. 
For a number of years this house was occupied by a Mrs. 
Ellsworth and subsequently by George Ross. 

It was formerly one of the numerous stage houses that 
were so frequently seen along the Mohawk turnpike, from 
1795 to 1840. There were two Gabriel Mannys, the senior 
living at Manny's Corners and the junior on the Mohawk 
turnpike. 

Mr. Stephen Sanford is fortunate in being the owner of 
two of the oldest houses in Amsterdam, — the old James Allen 
house on the Hurricana farm and the Thomas house on the 
Round View farm. 

The Thomas house was probably erected by Henry 
Thomas in 1797, as Mr. Sanford is in possession of a brick 
taken from one of the chimneys bearing that date. 

This house and the Allen house are in excellent condition, 
and considering their " run of a century " and over, present a 
very sturdy appearance, owing to the heavy timbers used in 
their construction. 

The Thomas, or, as it is sometimes called, the Reid house, 
at Round View, often attracts the attention of passers-by 
because it does not seem to be on a line with anything, unless 
it might be with the north and south pole. 

This is accounted for by the fact that the old public road 
ran along what is now the rear of the house, which was for- 
merly the front, as can plainly be seen by examining the rear 
door to the main hall. This door and casing is quite orna- 
mental, and, with its quaint side lights, reveals the antiquity 
of the building. 



Early History of Amsterdam 289 

In those days there was no roadway on the south bank of 
the creek by Green Hill Cemetery. 

Persons who are in the habit of passing Round View have 
noticed a triangular piece of land leading from near the barn 
and coming to a point at a stone wall on lands of Samuel 
Clizbe. The north fence of this lot was the north side of the 
old road which ran between the barn and the house, through 
the meadow and across the present road, and, with a sharp 
turn, back into the field and through the centre of the half- 
moon woods and across the flats now covered by the waters 
of Kellogg dam, passed the old stone oil mill and entered the 
grounds of the present Green Hill Cemetery, by what is now 
the upper entrance opposite the old yellow house on the bank 
of the creek, thence, following an easy grade up over the hill, 
the road came out at the present main carriage entrance to the 
cemetery, and so on down Church Street. 

This road was ordered straightened as it is at present, and the 
width ordered four rods wide, December 14, 1809, the highway 
commissioners being David Shepard, Samuel Jones, and Duncan 
Stewart. It is thought that the dug-way between Sanford's 
dam and the Green Hill Cemetery was constructed a little later. 

The house at Round View farm was built in 1797 by 
Henry Thomas, and known as Henry Thomas's store, who 
probably conveyed the same in 1798 to William Thomas, who 
conveyed it to William Helling, January 14, 1806; Helling con- 
veyed to William Reid, February 3, 1824; William Reid con- 
veyed to Edward Reid in 1841 ; Edward Reid conveyed to Jane 
Dingman, who conveyed to William K. Greene, Greene to 
Richard Pierce, Pierce to R. H. Johnson, Johnson to Stephen 
Sanford, the present owner. 

While it was in possession of Mrs. Dingman it was re- 
modelled by changing the stairs in the main hall and by 
changing the front of the house to the south. 



290 The Mohawk Valley 

Below this house on the south side of the road next below 
the Jay Reid farmhouse is a building which I am inclined to 
believe was erected before 1794, and was the residence of 
EHsha Arnold, the father of Benedict Arnold and father-in-law 
of William Reid, both well-known business men between 1806 
and 1850. 

William Reid was born at Speddock, in the parish of Holy, 
wood, and county of Dumfries, Scotland, November 12, 1779, 
Sailed from Greenock, June i, 1802, and arrived in the port 
of New York August 8th of the same year, and came im- 
mediately to Amsterdam, by sloop to Albany, on foot to 
Schenectady, and by bateau up the Mohawk River. He soon 
opened a school " on the rocks " at Rockton, where he taught 
for four years. In 1806 he married the daughter of Elisha 
Arnold, and a little later, in connection with his brother-in- 
law, Benedict Arnold, kept a general store on Main Street. 

Contemporary with the above-named persons, at 1806, we 
find the names of Osias Bronson, the grandfather of James 
Bronson, who moved here in 1802, Timothy Downs, Daniel 
Miles, Tulluck, E. E. DeGraff, Barnes, Vedder, DeForest, 
Blade, Roseboom, Waters, Thomas, and Esmond, Matthew 
Bovee, and others. 

The house now known as the Voorhees mansion was built 
by Garret Roseboom the latter part of the last century, and 
was one of the numerous stage or road houses scattered along 
the Mohawk turnpike in the early part of the last century. 
This quaint old building, both in its exterior and interior, 
bears the impress of antiquity. I lately called upon the two 
surviving members of the family, Messrs. Stephen and George 
Voorhees, and was most cordially received by those hale and 
hearty good fellows. 

At first I felt like sympathizing with " Steve " in his 
nearlv lifelong affliction, but when I noticed how readv the 



Early History of Amsterdam 291 

younger brother was to use his eyes for the comfort and pleas- 
ure of the other, I was conscious that at home, at least, he did 
not feel the loss of his sight as when abroad. 

This old building, with its exterior of severe simplicity, 
is a landmark that cannot fail to attract the attention of 
passers-by. 

Architecturally, it cannot be called beautiful, but there are 
very few of our old residents who would care to have it marred 
by an attempt to modernize the structure. I think it was 
James G. Blaine who said that he did not like those changes 
that make an old building Queen Anne in front and Mary Ann 
behind. 

Approaching the place from Market Street, we first see the 
substantial stone wall and iron gate that is so familiar to all 
the young boys and the old boys of the last century. How 
many of the old boys that have grown up in our city can 
say that they have never played on the top of this wall and 
under the shade of those venerable maples ? Many of both 
sexes have pleasant memories of it as a trysting-place in the 
moonlight in days gone by. I think it is remembered equally 
with " the old pine tree at the end of the walk " on East 
Main Street, which stood where the parsonage of St. Mary's 
now stands. 

The front of the mansion is practically the same as when 
built, the only change noticeable is in the wing at the east 
end, where the tall pillars which formerly reached to the roof 
and formed a high, narrow portico have been replaced by a 
two-story piazza. The house as seen from the street, with its 
plain white walls and antique doors and windows, would never 
be mistaken for a modern structure. The severely plain front 
door witii its old-fashioned iron door-knocker representing the 
hooded head of an Egyptian princess, the latticed storm-door 
of the wing, the stone flagging branching from the gate to 



292 The Mohawk Valley 

reach the two doors, are the same as when I first saw them in 
my childhood, but I miss the four plain white pillars in front 
of the wing that succumbed to the hand of time, and were re- 
placed by the structure spoken of above. 

As we pass the front door we enter at once into a wide, 
long hall with broad stairs at the end, with the usual slim 
balusters and hand-rail of polished mahogany grown dark with 
age. The room on the west side was formerly used as a par- 
lor, and the woodwork of the doors and casing and the mantle 
over the deep fireplace show the ornamental moulding and 
carving that we so often find in houses built a century ago. 

On the east side of the hall is a large square room lighted 
by two windows in front. This room was the hotel office 
and barroom when the house was used as a road house in the 
early part of the last century and called the Roseboom House. 
Scattered among the modern pieces of furniture in this room 
are several pieces of dark mahogany or rosewood that are 
unique in their well-preserved antiquity. 

On the walls are two well-executed oil paintings of interest, 
one of which represents a very pretty woman of perhaps 
twenty-five years in the short waist and scant skirt in vogue 
in those early days. This is Mrs, Betsy Voorhees, the wife of 
Dr. Samuel Voorhees. The other painting is a portrait of an 
older woman, and is a very well-executed likeness of Mrs. 
Reynolds, whose maiden name was Bartlett, and the mother 
of Mrs. Samuel Voorhees and Marcus T. Reynolds. The little 
cap that adorns the head is beautiful in its quaint simplicity. 

The Voorhees family, which includes the Amsterdam and 
the Florida branches, are descendants of Steven Coerte Van 
Voorhees, born in 1600 at Hees, Holland, and came to this 
country " from before " the village in April, 1660, and settled 
at Flatlands, L. I. 

The meanincf in Encrlish of the Holland name Van Voor- 



Early History of Amsterdam 293 

hees, is " from before the Hees "; " Van " meaning " from," 
" Voor " meaning " before " or in front of, and Hees being 
a small village about five miles from Ruinen, Holland, which 
contained in 1600 nine houses and about fifty inhabitants. 

Dr. Samuel Voorhees was a man of great individuality, 
and is remembered as a man of ability in his profession. His 
appearance in his later years was such as to attract atten- 
tion. A spare man of medium height and a slight bend for- 
ward when walking, snow-white hair and whiskers, which he 
wore in long fringe around the edge of the jaw, his short, 
quick steps, and the ever-present cane was a familiar sight on 
Main Street for a great many years. He died November i, 
1870. This brief account of the Voorhees family would not 
be complete if I failed to mention another member of the 
family — Mrs. Betsey Voorhees. She was a sister of the well- 
known lawyer, Marcus T. Reynolds, and was a woman of 
great intelligence and marked force of character, who kept in 
advance of all the projects of reform advocated by her co- 
workers, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, and Mrs. 
Bloomer. She died February 8, 1858. 

Mr. Stephen R. Voorhees informs me that John V. Henry, 
at one time a prominent man in the village of Amsterdam, 
and also owner of Guy Park in 1805, was brother-in-law of 
Commodore Charles Wilkes of the Amet-ican navy. John V. 
Henry had a son who was named for the commodore and 
called Wilkes Henry. He was a schoolmate of Stephen Voor- 
hees in the old red schoolhouse that formerly stood where the 
East Main Street brick schoolhouse now stands, and which 
was burned in the great fire of the summer of 1856. 

Wilkes Henry when a young man went on a voyage 
with his uncle, the commodore, in the exploring expedition 
of 1838-42, at which time they visited the Feejee Islands. 
Young Henry asked leave to go ashore with a boat crew. 



294 The Mohawk Valley 

Permission being granted, they rowed for the shore, disap- 
peared, and were never heard from again. It was always sup- 
posed that they were captured by the savages and roasted and 
eaten. 

It is said, however, that in later years the Feejees preferred 
the flesh of a nic(i plump female savage to a white man, as 
they found the flesh of a white man insipid, and having the 
flavor of tobacco. 

This reminds me of the questions of a young irrepressible 
who had been told a story of a missionary having been eaten 
by a cannibal. " Papa," he says, " will the missionary go to 
heaven ?" " Yes," said the father. After a pause the boy 
says, " Pa, will the cannibal go to heaven ? " " No, of course 
not," says the father. " Pa," says the boy, " how can the 
missionary go to heaven if the cannibal don't ? " 

In the year 1826 General Lafayette passed through Port 
Jackson on the Erie canal on his way to the v/estern portion of 
the State. It was not known that he was on the packet until it 
was near at hand, consequently no organized reception was 
made in his honor. However, about fifty of the residents 
hurried over in time to see him. but were so overawed at his 
presence that no one made an effort to speak to him. Among 
those who were present was Mrs. Samuel Voorhees, who trans- 
mitted to him a pair of fine worsted stockings knitted by her- 
self of one hundred stitches to the needle. Afterwards Mrs. 
Voorhees received a letter from Lafayette acknowledging their 
receipt and expressing thanks for the gift. To-day this letter 
is one of the most valued possessions of the Voorhees family. 
They are also in possession of six mahogany chairs formerly 
the property of Sir W. Johnson. 

Ozias Brownson (Bronson) came to Amsterdam in 1802, 
and later became a tenant on a farm belonging to Dr. Samuel 
Voorhees. who at that time lived in Amsterdam. Somewhat 



Early History of Amsterdam 295 

later George W. J. Bronson, the son of Ozias, married a 
daughter of Garret Roseboom, the builder of the Voorhees 
mansion. Anthony Roseboom, a brother of Mrs. George 
Bronson, was born in this house, and is still living in Fulton- 
ville at the age of ninety-five years. 

Mr. George Bronson and his bride went to housekeeping 
in the " old yellow Voorhees house," which formerly stood 
on the north side of Main Street, near the site of the Yund 
block. 

Ozias Brownson subsequently bought a farm west of the 
village and built a farmhouse, which was afterwards burned to 
the ground. Our people have known this place as the Forbes 
farm, which is now owned by St. Mary's Church and used as 
a cemetery. 

In 1796, a bridge having been built across the Schoharie, 
a turnpike was opened from Canajoharie to Albany on the 
south side of the Mohawk River and, with its extensions, called 
the Great Western Turnpike. 

In order to accommodate the tide of emigration up the 
Mohawk Valley (the " gate " to the west) efforts were made 
to improve the thoroughfares, especially from Schenectady to 
Utica, and on April 4, 1800, a charter for the construction of 
the Mohawk Turnpike was granted. In 1802 or 1803 Seth 
Wetmore and Levi Norton came from Litchfield, Conn., and 
interested themselves in the turnpike enterprise. They, with 
Ozias Brownson, Hewitt Hill, and three others, formed the 
first board of directors. 

The turnpike was not constructed so much for stages as 
for transporting the immense quantities of merchandise and 
produce to and fro from Albany to Utica and Oswego and 
subsequently to Buffalo and the great West. The wagons 
used were ponderous vehicles drawn by four and sometimes 
six and eight horses, and must have resembled the " prairie 



296 The Mohawk Valley 

schooners " of the West, with their canvas covers. To accom- 
modate this great traffic, houses were built along the turnpike, 
and those already built were utilized for road houses, as they 
were called, for the accommodation of man and beast. These 
were equipped with a bar, a few beds, and large sheds. 

The farmers in those days would drive their own teams and 
take along provisions for themselves and their horses, and by 
paying a sixpence for a bed and buying a quart of whiskey 
would find a place under the shed for their teams. 

The stages were large Concord coaches, swung on leather 
thoroughbraces, Vv^ith room for six passengers inside and as 
many more outside, with six or eight horses and a change 
of teams at every important stage house, and, as the road 
improved in later years, it is said to have been a stirring 
sight to see the experienced driver arrive at a hotel, with 
horses on a gallop, his long whip cracking over their heads, 
while his helper blew his horn with a toot, toot, toot, which 
was a signal for all the idle men and boys to gather to see the 
stage come in, which was the supreme event of the day. The 
following extract from Mr. Thurlow Weed's autobiography 
gives an interesting account of a stage journey on the Mo- 
hawk turnpike in 1824. After speaking of his journey from 
Rochester, he says: 

Nothing of special interest until we reach Sprakers, a well-known 
town that neither stages nor vehicles of any description were ever 
known to pass. 

Of Mr. Spraker, senior, innumerable anecdotes were told. He 
was a man without education, but possessed strong good sense, con- 
siderable conversational powers and much natural humor. Most of 
the stories told about him are so Joe-Millerish that T will repeat but 
one of them. On one occasion he had a misunderstanding with a 
neighbor, which provoked both to say hard things of one another. 
Mr. Spraker having received a verbal hot shot from his antagonist, 
reflected a few moments, and replied, " Ferguson, dare vas worse 



Early History of Amsterdam 297 

men in hell dan you," adding after a pause, with a growl, " but dey 
vas chained." 

At Canajoharie a tall handsome man, with graceful manners, is 
added to our list of passengers. This is Hon. Alfred Conklin, who, 
in 1820, was elected to Congress from this district. In passing 
Conynes hotel, the fate of a young lady, " who loved not wisely but 
too well," with an exciting trial for breach of promise, etc., would 
be related. Still farther east we stopped at Failing's tavern to 
water. 

Going some miles farther east, we came in sight of a building on 
the west side of the Mohawk River, and near its brink, the peculiar 
architecture of which attracts attention. This was formerly Charles 
Kane's store, or rather the store of the Kane Brothers, five of whom 
were distinguished merchants of the forepart of the present century. 
Here Com. Charles Morris, who, in 1812, distinguished himself on 
board the United States frigate Constitution (he was Lieut. Morris 
at that time, and was wounded in the engagement), in her engage- 
ment with the British frigate Gnerrtere, passed his boyhood. 

The next points of attraction were of much historic interest. Sir 
William and Guy Johnson built spacious and showy mansions a few 
miles west of the village of Amsterdam, long before the revolution, 
in passing which interesting anecdotes relating to the English 
baronet's connection with the Indians were remembered. A few 
miles west of Sir William Johnson's, old stagers would look for an 
addition to our number of passengers in the person of Daniel Cady, 
a very eminent lawyer, who resided at Johnstown, and for more 
than fifty years was constantly passing to and from Albany. At 
Amsterdam, Marcus T. Reynolds, then a rising young lawyer of 
that village, often took seat in the stage, and was a most com- 
panionable traveller. 

Simms speaks of the following tavern-keepers along the 
Mohawk River; On Tribes Hill, Kline, Putman, Wilson; Guy 
Park, James McGorck ; Amsterdam, Col. William Shuler; 
Cranesville, Crane ; below, Lewis Groat, Swart, and others. 



Chapter XVII 
Canagera, One of the Mohawks' Castles 

I HAVE before me a letter from the director of the Bureau 
of American Ethnology, at Washington, in which he sug- 
gests that a paper on some recent discovery of an Indian 

castle site near the city of Amsterdam be prepared and 
sent to the American Anthropologist for publication, and then 
he says: " You will see by the enclosed list of publications 
that this bureau has published very little in regard to the 
tribes of your State." It does seem strange that there has 
not been more written about the Mohawk Indians. Located 
as they were when Champlain invaded the Mohawks' country, 
in 1609, between Oneida Lake and Fort Orange, they, with 
the assistance of other tribes of the Iroquois, stood as a bul- 
wark between the savage Indians and Frenchmen of Canada, 
and the struggling settlements to the east and south, up to the 
peiiod of the ending of the French war, in 1763. 

Undoubtedly the assistance the Mohawks gave the earlier 
settlers of the Mohawk Valley, and their inveterate hatred of 
the Algonquins in retaliation for the defeat they suffered by 
Champlain's help in 1609, saved the Mohawk River from be- 
ing the southern boundary line of Canada. Nearly all the his- 
tory of the valley dates from the time Van Curler and his little 
band of hardy pioneers settled at Schenectady in 1662. 

One of the most noteworthy of those sturdy Dutchmen, 
next to Van Curler (or Van Corlear), was Jan Barentse Wemp, 
who arrived in this country and located in Bevervvyck, in 1643 

298 



Canagera, One of the Mohawks' Castles 299 

or 1645. The record says that he married twice and had six 
children. The suffix, se, to the name of Barent, indicates 
that he was the son of a Barent Wemp (Wemple). Three 
of his children were sons, whose names were Myndert, the 
eldest, and Barent, who was born in 1656, and married Folkje, 
daughter of Symon Volkertse Veeder, and had ten children. 
He was appointed captain of a company of foot by Lieutenant- 
Governor Leisler, in 1690. He had a son, Jan Barentse 
Wemp. The name of the third son I have not been able to 
ascertain, 

Jan Barentse Wemp, the elder, was one of the original 
fourteen pioneers who settled in Schenectady in 1662. It is 
said that Governor Stuyvesant granted the first patent of land 
(an island at Schenectady) in 1662, to Jan Barentse Wemp and 
Jacques Cornelise Van Slyck, a half-breed. This island was 
sometimes called Wemp's Island, and is now known as Van 
Slyck's Island. Jan's name is connected very closely with the 
early history of Schenectady, and his descendants may be 
found among many of the prominent families of the whole 
Mohawk Valley. 

Myndert, the eldest son of Jan Barentse Wemp, had a son, 
Johannes, also called Jan, or John, who, in 171 1, lived in the 
" Mohawk's country, on the Mohawk River." On the nth 
day of October of that year, Governor Hunter made a con- 
tract with John Werhp, Garret Symonce, Barent Vroman, 
Hendrick Vroman, and Arent Van Patten, of Schenectady, to 
build the fortification called Fort Hunter, at the mouth of the 
Schoharie River, and Queen Anne's Chapel, which was situ- 
ated inside the palisade or fort. This fort and chapel were 
completed in 1712. 

Jan Wemp, as he was called by his Dutch neighbors, 
owned part of the fourth flat of the Schenectady patent, which 
was located at Pattersonville. On December 16, 1737, he 



300 The Mohawk Valley 

obtained a patent of 450 acres of land in the town of Florida 
located east of Queen Anne's Chapel glebe, and adjoining 
the same on the west, and the Babbington patent of 1717, 
on the east. He died October 14, 1749. He married, first, 
Catalina, daughter of Reyer Schermerhorn, June 15, 1700, 
and second, Ariaantje, daughter of Isaac Swits, October 6, 
1709, and had twelve children; six sons and six daughters. 
A few extracts from his will may be found interesting. He 
divided his estate as follows: 

To my sons Isaac and Ephraini, the westerly part of the flats on 
the south side of the Mohawk River, where I now live, in the 
Mohawks' country; to John, Jr., the easterly part of my flats; to my 
daughter, Maria Butler, wife of Lieutenant Walter Butler, Jr., two 
morgens of land, etc., and to my daughter Rebecca, wife of Pieter 
Conyn, two morgens of land, etc. 

This Walter Butler was an uncle of Walter N. Butler of 
Cherry Valley massacre notoriety, and was killed at the battle 
of Lake George, September 8, 1755. 

Who has not experienced a desire for a stroll in the country 
during the bright and beautiful October weather so common 
in this latitude ? It seems to come with added force on some 
bright Sunday morning, and one longs to breathe the fresh air 
of the fields and the odors of the forest, and perhaps " look 
through nature up to nature's God." 

One Sunday morning I yielded to such a desire, and with 
a comrade boarded the trolley for Fort Johnson, and being 
rowed across the river by a " lone fisherman," we were soon 
on our tramp into the Mohawks' country. Our road lay along 
the canal, with its steam propellers belching forth dense black 
smoke and pushing and pulling two, four, or five heavily laden 
canal boats; on our left was the West Shore Railroad, with 
its long trains of rattling, rumbling cars, and screeching, his- 
sing locomotives, while to the right, across the Mohawk, could 



Canagera, One of the Mohawks' Castles 303 

be seen and heard endless trains of freight and passengers, 
passing east and west. 

The road we were travelling was probably the Indian trail 
followed by Jan Wemp (Wemple) and his companions, en 
route for the Tiononderoga, to construct Queen Anne's 
Chapel and Fort Hunter. Leaving the massive masonry of 
the " two locks," which are long enough to admit two canal 
boats at one time, we pass the pleasant home of the Mac- 
Gregors, and in due time arrive at the home of Mrs. Cornelius 
Wemple and Emiory and Gilbert Wemple, sons of Cornelius 
and grandsons of Ephraim, spoken of above as having in- 
herited the westerly half of the flats of Jan or John Wemp, 
which name is now changed to Wemple. We can imagine 
Jan and his companions, resting at the Indian spring by the 
wayside and drinking of its cooling water, and perhaps at that 
early date casting his eye over the flats with a desire for pos- 
session. The Wemple homestead of the present day is a com- 
modious edifice of modern construction, situated near the 
highway a little to the west of the Indian cold spring. About 
one hundred feet from the house formerly stood the old 
Wemp place, as it was called, the home of Jan Wemp, the 
great-grandfather of the present owners of the farm. When 
the Erie Canal was constructed, in 1820, it passed through the 
front yard of the old house, even taking away the front steps, 
leaving the house so near the canal that you could step from 
the front door into the water. As I remember the old house, 
it was quite a pretentious two-story edifice, flanked with two 
stone houses one story high and about twelve feet square, one of 
which was used as a kitchen, as was the custom with well-to-do 
families in the early part of the eighteenth century. The walls of 
the old kitchen are yet standing, but the roof has, of course, fal- 
len with decay and been replaced with a temporary superstruc- 
ture that looks sadl}- out of place on its time-worn stone walls. 



304 The Mohawk Valley 

Our mission to the Wemple place was to find, if possible, 
the site of an old Indian castle called by Van Curler, in the 
diary of his journey to the Mohawks' country, Canagera, situ- 
ated about one Dutch mile east of a large stream (Schoharie 
River). At this place, which is about two English miles from 
Schoharie River, we found abundant evidence of Indian oc- 
cupation. The cold spring by the roadside and another on 
the hill were walled up years before the advent of Jan Wemp 
by previous occupants of the land, — the Mohawks. Back of 
the house is an old Indian ford, the only one for miles east or 
west over the Mohawk River. Mr. Gilbert Wemple pointed 
out an old Indian trail through the primitive forest, leading to 
Auriesville, and probably to the vicinity of Minaville. 

Being asked if he had ever seen any embankment or evi- 
dence of the remains of an Indian fortification, he pointed to 
a path which he said led to a singular embankment, or ridge, 
which tradition said had been there before the advent of his 
ancestors. Following the path indicated, through the woods, 
I came to a field that had formerly been a forest of immense 
trees, but which had been almost entirely destroyed by a tor- 
nado that swept through the valley a few years ago. This 
field has been cleared, except of numerous huge upturned 
trunks, and is now almost completely covered with berry 
bushes. To the s.outh of this field stands the primitive forest, 
on whose northern edge, on a bit of high ground, is a clearing. 
Extending across the north side of the clearing is a grass-cov- 
ered embankment, about one hundred feet long, four feet wide 
at its base, and perhaps two or three feet high. At the east 
end of this embankment, and near the angle formed by a 
similar ridge leading to the south, is an opening about four 
feet wide or about the width of a gate or entrance. The east- 
erly ridge is of the same size and structure, and extends about 
one hundred and fifty feet, to another angle, where it meets a 



Canagera, One of the Mohawks' Castles 305 

well-defined but irregular ridge around the edge of a swamp, 
to the place of beginning. On the west side of the clearing 
we found a rudely walled-up spring or well, filled with the 
rubbish of the forest. At various places on the top of the 
eastern and southern ridge, or embankment, large trees are 
growing, two of which are immense pines, estimated to be 
over 150 years old, showing the great antiquity of this singu- 
lar work of the Indians. The size of the enclosure is about 
100 feet by 150, and there is plainly visible an embankment 
of about 350 feet in length. 

To the west of this clearing is a swamp, which could be 
drained to a near-by ravine by a cut about twenty feet long 
and two feet deep. On the north and east is a well-defined 
broad ditch, outside the embankment, leading to the swamp 
on the south. It is surely a very curious structure, and is of 
great interest, as there is evidence of Indian occupation on the 
hill and on the flats below. 

After a thorough examination of the clearing and adjoining 
grounds, we returned to the Wemple residence, and there met 
Mr. Emory Wemple and our friend Harrison Chase, of Am- 
sterdam, whose present wife is a sister of the owners of the 
Wemple farm, and were cordially received, told many an in- 
teresting tale, and shown many objects of interest. A curi- 
ous stone slab, on a slight elevation, at a turn in the road near 
the large barn, was pointed out. A wide, deep indentation, 
evidently worn by the action of waters, ran across the width 
of the slab, and in the centre was a smooth circular depression 
having the appearance of a primitive mortar, such as was used 
by the early Indians in grinding their corn with a stone pestle. 
A spot near the house was said to have been a burial-place of 
the Indians, and a well-authenticated account of the finding 
of the bones of an aborigine who had been buried in an erect 
position was given. 



3o6 The Mohawk Valley 

The following day we again visited the clearing on the hill, 
in company with Messrs. T. B. Van Derveer and Dewitt A. 
Devendorf, and were confirmed in our opinion that the clear- 
ing contains the remains of an Indian fortification; but 
whether prehistoric or not, it is hard to tell. One of the party 
who was eager to explore an excavation in the clearing, de- 
scended into it and pulled down a pile of stone in his investi- 
gation. His hurried exit soon after was explained by the fact 
that he had put his hand upon a large snake. With a stick 
we removed a flat stone and exposed his snakeship, coiled for 
a strike. If it had been anything but a snake, we might have 
thought it a thing of beauty; but it would take a wonderful 
expansion of imagination to find beauty in a reptile. The 
coils of its parti-colored body were gracefully placed, and its 
flat head and about a foot of slimy length, was drawn back in 
graceful curves, with its small bead-like eyes watching for its 
enemy. However, no thought of compassion or admiration 
could prevent poising a stone for its destruction, nor was it an 
impulse of cruelty that dashed the stone to its lair. But we 
did not crush his snakeship, as we had hoped to; he swiftly 
glided, with an indescribable undulatory motion, without ap- 
parent effort, to a place of safety in the opposite bank. We 
were sorry we did not ** bruise its head," as it was the proper 
thing to do, according to the Scriptures. 

This little incident of the snake seemed to add gloom to 
the solitude of the forest, and we picked our way through a 
treacherous swamp and were glad to get on firmer ground 
again. Crossing a deep ravine, which afforded an outlet to 
the waters of the swamp above, we turned aside from our path 
to see the ancient burial-ground of the Wemple family, and 
were surprised at its populous appearance. It could hardly be 
called a graveyard, as it was situated in a vast field that gentlv 
slopes towards the setting sun. We counted over a hundred 



Canagera, One of the Mohawks' Castles 309 

mounds in this ancient Godsacre, under the shade of a single 
giant oak. The single marble slab in commemoration of the 
death of Ephraim Wemple, in 1838, seemed out of place 
among the rude slabs of limestone, without date or inscription, 
that marked the last resting-place of the hardy pioneers, the 
descendants of Jan Barentse Wemple. Each mound was well 
defined and free from weeds or briers. Small slabs of gray 
limestone indicated the head and foot of each grave, making 
it apparent that a large number of children of various ages had 
been buried there. Mounds of greater length also marked the 
last resting-place of numerous adults. 

About one hundred and sixty years ago, perhaps, the 
ground was opened to receive the remains of the first occupant 
of this primitive graveyard in the forest. Imagination pic- 
tures the scene. Up this gentle slope and under the shadow 
of towering pines, oaks, and maples, winds the funeral proces- 
sion from the homestead on the bank of the Mohawk, the 
rude, unvarnished coffin borne by kindly neighbors, who have 
followed the trail from a distance to show, by their presence, 
their sympathy for the bereaved family. We can imagine an 
absence of bright colors in the funeral train, but no sable 
robes. Perhaps the Rev. Henry Barclay, their nearest neigh- 
bor, from Queen Anne's Chapel, stands at the head of the open 
grave, while at a respectful distance, a group of half-naked 
Indians gaze stoically at the strange scene. Hew unmeaning 
to the savages, but how full of hope to the sorrowing friends, 
are the words of the minister as the clods fall on the coffin : 
I heard a voice from heaven saying, write, from henceforth 
blessed are the dead, who die in the Lord. Even so saith the 
spirit, for they rest from their labors." 

A few days later we again visited the clearing spoken of 
above, in company with the late A. G. Richmond of Cana- 
joharie and W. J. Kline, T. B. Van Derveer, and Professor 



3IO The Mohawk Valley 

Maney of Amsterdam, and were again puzzled over this 
strange embankment. A superficial investigation of the earth 
in the clearing did not reveal the hoped-for evidence of pre- 
historic relics, except some gray earth that had the appear- 
ance of ashes, which under the glass revealed the presence of 
tiny bits of charcoal. This was found about eighteen inches 
below the bottom of an old rott'^n stump, and was evidently 
of great age. A more extended investigation may reveal the 
evidence required. 

The embankment on the hill does not prove or disprove 
the location of the site of Canagera, for it is said by Van Cur- 
ler that this castle was without palisades. It may be of later 
construction, or it may antedate the Iroquois nation, and be- 
long to the mound builders, as it bears resemblance to their 
curious earthworks, found in Ohio and other Western States. 

I would like to add that the older residents of Fort Hunter 
speak of the clearing on the hill as " Yaunney's Garden," 
from the fact that a man by the name of Yaunney cultivated 
this spot about forty or fifty years ago. This may account for 
the absence of the hoped-for Indian relics, as the cultivation 
of the soil would naturally obliterate evidence of Indian oc- 
cupation, in the shape of ashes, charcoal, burned stone, and 
so forth. 

In 1897, while gathering material for the history of Queen 
Anne's Chapel at Fort Hunter, I had occasion to visit that 
place to locate the chapel, which was destroyed in 1820 by 
the building of the Erie Canal. I succeeded in doing so to 
my entire satisfaction, but was confronted with substantial 
evidence of the existence of the remains of a palisade at a 
greater distance from the chapel than a number of authentic 
documents had placed it, and looked upon it as a mystery that 
was hard to solve. 

Reference has been made at different times and bv different • 



Fort Hunter S^^ 

authors to the fact that Sir William Johnson, previous to the 
Revolution, had repaired the fort and mounted it with cannon. 
We know that it was garrisoned by a detachment of British 

soldiers. 

A short time ago, while looking over some old letters of 
Sir WiUiam Johnson's I came across the following, taken from 
a letter written to Governor DeLancey, and dated Mount 
Johnson, June 6, 1755 : 

I returned last night from the Conhogohery Indian Castle, having 
first been at the Mohawk Castle. At Both settlements I have fixt 
on places to build them forts. At the hither (Mohawk) casde I 
propose it to be nearly on a line with Fort Hunter, to take in the 
church (chapel) as a Bastion, and to have a communication Palisades 
between the two Forts, which will be of small Expense, and in case 
of an Attack may be of great service by mutually assisting each 
other, and if drove to the necessity of quitting the one, they may 
still maintain the other. 

Another letter is dated Mount Johnson, June 16, 1755: 
" I have last night, with much difficulty, agreed with three 
men to build the two Forts at the Mohawk Castle." 

That the two forts were built is shown from a speech by 
the Indian Abraham, before Sir William in 1758. I find it in 
the appendix of the second volume of W. L. Stone's Life of 
Sir William Johnson. 

Fort Johnson, Jan. 13, 1758. At a meeting of some of the 
Mohawk chiefs of the lower town. Present, Sir William Johnson, 
Bart., Lieut. Claus, Dep. Sec'y, Geo. Croghan, Esq., Captain 
Thomas Butler; Mr. Arent Stevens, Captain Montour, interpreters; 
Abraham, speaker. 

Brother Warra.— We come here to lay our case before you which, 
as it seems at present, is very precarious; listen Brother, and we 
will relate you our unlucky accident which happened in our town 
yesterday evening. 

One of our young men who has been these many weeks past from 
home, returning yesterday, found that since his leaving home another 



312 The Mohawk Valley 

party of men were posted in the garrison. In order, therefore, to 
pay a visit to the commanding officer, and bid him welcome to his 
garrison (not knowing that the sentries were ordered to stop any 
Indian from entering the fort) he came up to the gate, and to his 
great surprise, as quite uncustomary heretofore, was repulsed by the 
sentry, and after offering a second time to go in, was pushed to the 
ground with the butt of the gun. Upon which, seeing himself thus 
unfriendly used, he returned to his house, and going along one of 
the block houses, they emptied . . . upon him, and shrew him 
with snowballs; standing a little after, under the door of his house, 
he saw two soldiers coming towards the Indian town, and consider- 
ing his ill-treatment a little before, went to the gate of the Indian 
Fort, and attempted to stop the soldiers; giving them to understand 
that as they would not let them enter their fort, he was unwilling 
they should come among the Indians; but he was soon pushed back; 
and one of the soldiers took up a piece of wood, and knocked him 
to the ground with it, leaving four wounds in his head. Upon 
which a French prisoner tried to take up the wounded man but was 
prevented by the soldiers, and obliged to run for his life to a white 
man's house just by there, and they followed him and would have 
given him some cuts, had he not pushed the door after him and 
kept the door shut. 

Some of our young men, seeing all this, immediately ran to meet 
us (as we were not yet come home from the meeting at your house) 
and finding us at John Wemp's, where we stopped a little, told us 
that there was fighting and quarrelling among the soldiers and In- 
dians; we hastened home, and driving up towards my stable, in 
order to take my horses out of the sleigh, and put them up, in the 
first place found four soldiers in the stable, and upon asking them 
what they were doing there, and desiring them to leave the stable 
that I might put up my horses, they immediately struck me with 
their fists, on which I got hold of him that struck me first, and 
brought him to the ground, holding him some time, to prevent his 
striking me again, when the rest got hold of me, tossed me about, 
and had like to choke me; tore my wampum and silver medal from 
my neck, which they have either kept or thrown away, as I cannot 
find it in the place where we struggled. During the time of this two 
other Indians, hearing the noise, came to see what was the matter, 
when the soldiers were calling for help to the fort, as I found after- 
wards by a number of soldiers coming with drawn cutlasses, and 



Fort Hunter 



o'o 



pursued the two young Indians, who were unarmed, and one of 
them ran to his house, and by a strong door, which he pushed after 
him, saved himself, aUhough many cuts were made into the door to 
split it. The other Indian ran lilcewise to his house, but he had not 
time to shut the door when the soldiers rushed into the house, fell 
to cutting him and gave him three wounds in his body, two in his 
head, and a stab in his breast, which proves very dangerous. His 
sister, being in the house at the same time, cried out " murder," 
when one of the soldiers struck at her and cut her in two places 
under her arm; and having a blanket about her saved her from 
being killed. At last an officer, a sergeant, came from the fort to 
prevent their doing more mischief, but the soldiers were in such a 
rage that he was obliged to draw his sword among them and actually 
cut one of them in the arm; which. Brother, we mention to you for 
this reason that upon inquiring into the affair, we may not be charged 
with having wounded him; for we assure you, we had no weapons 
in our hands during the whole fray, nor intended at all to (|uarrel. 

Yesterday morning, also, when two of our women wanted to cross 
the river in a canoe that belongs to us, and being ready to push from 
shore, they were pulled out of the canoe by the hair of their heads, 
by two of the soldiers, and the canoe taken from them. And not 
long ago an old woman, wife of one of the sachems, coming along 
the road with a load of v/ood on her back, was attacked by the 
soldiers, who wanted to ravish her, but defending herself with her 
axe, she prevented their design. 

This, Brother, is now the true state of our complaint. [Gives 
string of Wampum.] 

This affair occurred just at the time Sir William was ex- 
pecting a large meeting of delegates of the Confederacy, and 
occasioned him a great deal of annoyance. However, he 
espoused the cause of the Mohawks, and caused the obnoxious 
garrison to be replaced by soldiers that were acquainted with 
the Indians. 

In the history of St. Ann's Church and Queen Anne's 
Chapel, published by the writer in 1897, is a photo-engraving 
of the site of the chapel, which was situated inside the 
original Fort Hunter. The photograph was taken from the 



314 The Mohawk Valley 

bridge over the guard lock looking east. On the west side of 
the bridge are the gates that admit the waters of the Scho- 
harie into the feeders, which in turn empty into the main canal 
about one half-mile away. 

The figure on the left in the photo is looking across the 
canal tovv-ards the site of the chapel. 

From the above e^ccount there seems to be conclusive evi- 
dence of the existence of two forts at Fort Hunter at that 
time. 

From careful measurement we feel positive that the centre 
of the old stone building was about twenty feet from the east 
end of the right-hand stone wall, and between the two apple- 
trees whose tops appear in the foreground. 

In 1869, during a flood, the roadway on the west bank of 
the creek was washed away, and a large portion of its waters 
found exit across the flat lands into the canal some distance 
from the roadway. When the water subsided it was found 
that much soil had been washed away, exposing two lines of 
palisades. One line extended along the line of the road on 
which the old rug mill stands, and a few feet north of the 
fence on its northern border. The other line was at an angle 
of about forty-five degrees to the first line, with a well-marked 
opening, with stakes on each side, presumably leading to the 
other line of palisades, about one hundred feet south. 

The theory that suggests itself is, that the angular palisade 
belonged to the British fort, while the straight line was the 
stockade of the Indian fore or village, the opening spoken of 
being the palisaded connection between the two forts 
spoken of in Sir William Johnson's letters. The stakes of 
both palisades were about ten inches in diaineter, an inner 
row covering the spaces between the outer row of stakes, the 
fortification being what was called double stockaded. 

Although thirty years have elapsed since the flood that 



Wolf Hollow 315 

exposed the palisade spoken of, a trench dug from the fence 
on the south side of the lot might again bring to light evidence 
of this old Indian palisade. If the owner of the lot, the Rev. 
J. H. Enders, would undertake this work and lay bare some 
portion of the old stockade, he would be able to add an inter- 
esting chapter to the early history of the Mohawk Valley. 

Among the persons now living who saw the remains of 
old Tiononderoga (Fort Hunter) in 1869, are James Voorhees, 
Amsterdam; John Graff, Fort Hunter; and Dr. Henry Dev- 
endorf, Mill Point. 

It is usual, when one drives out in the country for pleasure, 
to select a day that promises to be fair and pleasant, and for 
that reason we are apt to see hills and valleys under the same 
aspects, barring the changes of seasons. I took a drive a few 
days ago, however, when the sky was overcast and the rumble 
of distant thunder was heard in the west. 

Our journey led us down the river road to the Swart's hill 
road, and, as we climbed that hill in the usual laborious man- 
ner, the rain-drops were falling thick and fast from the black 
thunder-clouds overhead. We were well protected from the 
shower, however, and rather enjoyed being out in the down- 
pour, although our faithful horse soon put on the appearance 
that is attributed to a drowned rat. 

As we reached the top of that dreadful hill the view of the 
valley was strange and grand. Safe and snug in our buggy 
as a bug in a rug, we saw the river and hills under such a new 
aspect that we hardly recognized our surroundings. From the 
height from which we gazed we looked down on the Mohawk, 
made gray by the dashing drops of rain, while the higher 
Florida hills, that had been concealed from view below by the 
lower range along the bank of the river, spread out before us 
on an inclined plane, stretching upward until they disappeared 
in the storm-clouds that formed a gray fringe along their 



o 



1 6 The Mohawk Valley 



summit, as they scurried along dropping their moisture in gray 
sheets on field and forest. 

Looking down the river, we could see the Towereune, and 
Yantapuchaberg, gray and misty in the distance, and the 
river, narrowed by the bend at Hoffman's Ferry, winding its 
way along the base of those high hills that reminded one of 
old Donderberg and Cro'nest at the entrance to the Highlands 
of the Hudson. The falling rain and the blackness of the 
clouds almost obliterated colors from the landscape that a 
moment before had been brilliant with shades of green and 
yellow and brown. 

Our destination was Glenville, a pretty little village charm- 
ingly situated on a level plateau, surrounded by high hills, and 
reminds one of a hugh bowl on a mountain top. The view of 
this elevated valley, as you approach it from West Charlton, is 
a surprise and is very pleasing indeed. As we turned our course 
towards the river at Hoffman's the thunder clouds were still 
muttering in the east, but the sun shone brightly overhead. 

Our course lay through " Wolf Hollow," one of the 
wildest and most charming drives in the valley of the Mohawk. 

As we entered the hollow the sun brightened the roadway 
somewhat, but the gloom of the forests on each side was at 
times almost impenetrable. 

This hollow, or ravine, or canon, is a narrow gorge between 
two of the highest hills between Glenville and Hoffman's, and 
is barely wide enough for a single roadway and the narrow 
creek that ripples or roars along its side in calm or in storm. 
The hills on each side rise to the height of three or four hun- 
dred feet, with a fringe of towering pines along their summits, 
and in some places just escape being termed precipitous. At 
one place on the western bank the earth has fallen away leav- 
ing a precipice perhaps a hundred feet high of thin ledges of 
slate from top to bottom. As we look up the side of the hill. 




THE ROAU THROUGH WOLF HOLLOW 



317 



Wolf Hollow 319 

the forest would be most impenetrable were it not for a thin 
line of gray sky that appears through the trees at the summit. 

At one point a rivulet is trickling down at our feet, and, 
as we look up, we see in the slaty bed of its almost perpen- 
dicular course a large volume of water that has been carried to 
it along the water courses above by the recent storm, and, as 
we gaze, we see it leap over the slaty ledges in myriads of tiny 
cascades until it dashes at our feet and goes murmuring along 
to the river below. About a mile from the entrance of the 
gorge, the ravine widens out a few feet and at the base of a 
cliff is seen, through the gloom, a large hole in its side, whose 
impenetrable blackness makes one shiver. This is said to be 
the entrance to a coal mine that was opened many years ago 
by some visionary person who expected to make a fortune 
from the venture. It extended some little distance into the 
eastern bank, and coal was found, but in quantities that would 
not pay the expense of mining. The mine is said to be filled 
with water. 

Of late years the road through the ravine has been im- 
proved and is in fair condition, in fact much better through- 
out than Market Street hill. In the two-mile drive through 
it we did not hear the howl of wolf, or see man, woman, or 
child until near the exit two grizzled fishermen startled us 
by rising abruptly in the underbrush. They were collecting 
" scrabblers " for bait. 

At the southern end of the gorge a singular rock forma- 
tion has been uncovered in digging away the slate to repair 
the road. Above a mass of thin scales of slate is a course of 
gray sandstone about three feet thick in a segment of a circle 
inclining at an angle of forty-five degrees, and above, another 
thick course of slaty scales, making an interesting sight to the 
geologist. As we emerge from the ravine we find that we are 
still high above the river, a glimpse of which we catch through 



320 The Mohawk Valley 

the trees that are scattered here and there in pleasing irregu- 
larity. In a large field to the right stands an immense chest- 
nut tree, whose trunk is so large that two men could not span 
its girth. The long, narrow, pointed, drooping leaves of its 
very dark green foliage and the clusters of lighter green 
prickly burrs that hide the toothsome nuts are a very pleasing 
sight and give promise of a bountiful harvest. Wolf Hollow 
has as many moods as our hills and vales, and a traveller 
should see it in the brightness of noonday and also at twilight 
in order to appreciate its beauties and its terrors. 



Chapter XVIII 
Early Industries 

IN the year 1802 the Rev. John Taylor, while on a mission 
through the Mohawk Valley, made in his journal the 
following entry about Amsterdam, which was formerly 
part of the ancient town of Caughnawaga: " Near the 
centre of this town (Amsterdam) the Ouctanunda Creek 
empties into the Mohawk — a very fertile and useful stream. 
On this stream and in this town there stand 4 grist mills, 2 oil 
mills, one iron forge and 3 saw mills." 

On an old map, dated 1807, is shown an oil mill, situated 
near the mouth of the creek and near the present site of the 
Pioneer Knitting Mill. This seems conclusive evidence that 
an oil mill was in operation at an early date, although our 
oldest residents confess that they have no knowledge of 
such an industry at that period. Where the other was 
situated it is impossible to say at the present time, unless it 
may have been in operation on the Juchtanunda Creek, and 
ante-dated the primitive mill of Supplina Kellogg, one of the 
early settlers at West Galway, who founded a linseed oil mill 
at that place in 1824, where he carried on the business in a 
small way until 1848. 

Those who are familiar with the road from Hagaman to 
West Galway will remember that after passing Conner's grist 
mill they come to a long stretch of sandy road, and the road 
beyond becomes narrow and rugged on account of the dense 

growth of underbrush that lines each side of the wagon track. 
21 

321 



322 The Mohawk Valley 

Emerging from the bushes, the road forms a junction with 
another, running north and south, either branch of which, if 
followed, will lead to West Galway village. 

In front and distant about a hundred yards from the junc- 
tion is visible an ancient dam across the Juchtanunda and a 
number of buildings, some of which have all the appearances 
of antiquity. To the left of the lane that leads to the old 
buildings are two cottages pleasantly situated, one of which 
is the home of Robert Calderwood and family. The writer 
feels under obligations to Mr. Calderwood for courtesies ex- 
tended and interesting information given. 

The old buildings mentioned above are all that remains of 
an active business centre, located here three-quarters of a 
century ago. 

The dam, although the water is allowed to run through a 
large opening on the south, is in a rem.arkable state of pres- 
ervation, considering the manner of its construction. 

The wings of the dam are embankments about two hun- 
dred feet long to the north and to the south, but the pour, or 
dam proper, is about fifty feet wide, and constructed by laying 
heavy logs the full width of the stream, upon which were 
placed other logs about five feet apart and laid at right angles 
with the foundation. Then another row of long, heavy logs 
and a row of smaller ones at right angle and so on until the 
desired height was reached. Leading from the dam on the 
north side is a square, open Hume, showing signs of age and 
usage. Some years previous this square flume replaced a 
round tube that had worn and rotted away. The old round 
flume carried the water that furnished the power to turn the 
water wheel that operated the machinery that ground the seed 
that made the oil in the pioneer oil mill of Supplina Kellogg, 
which was located below the dam on the north side of the 
stream. The building is still standing, although dismantled 




THE ROAD TO GALWAY (HAGAMAN's) 



323 



Early Industries 325 

of all the machinery used for the manufacture of linseed oil, 
and though the exterior of the structure shows evident signs 
of age the interior displays immense beams and girders that 
seem to bid defiance to time and decay. 

I was informed that part of this old building was formerly 
located below the Beaver Dam Creek about a mile below a grist 
mill belonging to Robert Campbell, whose residence is still 
standing near the northwest corner of the roads mentioned 
above. Two of the millstones of this grist mill may be seen in a 
field opposite the Campbell residence near the junction of roads. 

The back part of the Kellogg mill was used as a fulling 
mill, where the farmers brought cloth, woven by their wives 
and daughters, to be fulled and dressed. In the upper story, 
bins were arranged in order to keep each customer's cloth 
separate, and the fields adjoining were fitted with apparatus 
for drying the same. Back of this building and disconnected 
from it was a sawmill. 

On the opposite side of the creek was a tannery, where 
hides were made into leather by the old-fashioned tedious 
process that took twelve months to complete. Th(; building 
has been destroyed, but the old vats are still pointed out, in 
which may yet be seen portions of the wooden frames. To 
the west of the tannery was a fair-sized building, still stand- 
ing, and formerly used as a shoe shop. 

The oil, fulling, and saw mills were conducted by Supplina 
Kellogg, and the tannery and shoe shop by George Dunning. 

Across the fields to the south, but on the main road, still 
stands the long, low farm buildings of Mr. Kellogg and the 
birthplace of his sons, John and Lauren, who succeeded their 
father in the linseed-oil business, and subsequently established 
the same in the village of Amsterdam, in an old stone building 
which v;as formerly a distillery conducted by Benedict 
Arnold and others. 



o 



26 The Mohawk Valley 



Opposite the residence of Supplina Kellogg was the home 
of George Dunning, and it is mentioned that between the two 
families such cordial relations existed that they might almost 
be called one household. 

The method of making oil in those days was crude in the 
extreme, but the principle of inanufacture was practically the 
same as now; that is, the crushing of the seed and pressing 
the product to extract the oil. 

This primitive mill had but one set of stones and one press. 
The crushing process was accomplished by two circular stones, 
shaped like grist mill stones, attached to an axle, like cart 
wheels, and connected to a vertical shaft, which in turning gave 
two motions to the stones, that of their own axis and the axis 
of the upright shaft, and revolving on a stone bed on which 
the seed was placed. This process was continued until the 
seed became a paste, when it was tempered with heat and 
water, placed in bags and subjected to great pressure by hand 
in order to extract the oil, which was then conducted to the 
rude cellar beneath and placed in barrels. The capacity of 
this rude mill was about one barrel a day, which was disposed 
of to neighboring farmers and the near-by village. It is said 
that a large proportion of the oil manufactured was consumed 
by the veteran painter of those days, Gardner Clark, the grand- 
father of William G. Clark, of Amsterdam. 

The residuum, called oil cake, was allowed to accumulate 
until such time as a market could be found for it in some 
neighboring city, when it was hauled to Amsterdam and 
shipped to its destination by canal. 

Almost the first building erected by the early pioneers 
after building their rude log huts was a sawmill to prepare 
their timber for dwellings, then the grist mill to grind their 
grain, and afterward a fulling mill for the dressing of cloth, 
woven on their rude looms at home. 



Early Industries 327 

The definition of fulling or milling is as follows: the 
operation of removing greasy matters from woollen goods and 
of giving to them a more compact texture by causing the 
fibres to entangle themselves more closely together, as in 
the process of felting. Fulling mills are a very ancient in- 
vention. 

After the death of Supplina Kellogg and the removal of the 
plant to Amsterdam, his sons, John and Lauren, increased 
the capacity by larger sets of stone. The increased product 
of the mill made it necessary to buy seed in larger quantities 
than our farmers could furnish, although they were encouraged 
by Messrs. Kellogg to plant increased acreage by loaning 
them seed for that purpose. At that time Boston was the 
centre of importation of India seed and from that city the 
firm bought most of their supplies. 

When the firm decided to engage in the manufacture of 
oil in Amsterdam, in 1851, they purchased of the estate of 
Benedict Arnold the mill property they now occupy. 

Some years earlier Mr. Arnold purchased of Tunis I. Van 
Derveer this mill site and water-power and erected a stone 
building sixteen feet high for a distillery, and transferred the 
apparatus from his old distillery building, which formerly stood 
where the Y. M. C. A. building now stands. When Messrs. 
Kellogg bought the property, the still had not been in operation 
for a number of years, and the dam was in need of repairs. 

Mr. John Kellogg informs me that in making the needed 
alterations evidence was found in the bottom of the dam that 
a primitive oil mill had been located on the banks of the 
creek at this point at some early period in the history of the 
village. Probably this was one of the two oil mills spoken of 
by the Rev. John Taylor in 1802. 

Messrs. Kellosfs at once added two stories to the old dis- 
tillery building, repaired the dam, and otherwise improved the 



328 The Mohawk Valley 

property. They increased the capacity of the old mill to four 
sets of stone for grinding the seed and the necessary presses 
for extracting the oil. These presses were run by hand and 
the work was very laborious. Gradually the business in- 
creased, requiring additional machinery and more adequate 
means for extracting the oil and additional buildings for 
storage of raw material (which they imported direct from 
India) and manufactured product. The dam was enlarged, 
and the water-power thereby increased fourfold. Upon the 
death of Lauren Kellogg, Mr. James A. Miller was admitted 
to the firm. As the years rolled around, other changes were 
made in the firm by admission or withdrawal, until now the 
firm consists of John Kellogg and his two sons, George and 
Lauren, under the firm name of Kelloggs & Miller. 

In order to accommodate the constantly increasing busi- 
ness of the firm, a branch railroad was built in 1879, connect- 
ing with the New York Central Railroad and owned by a 
private corporation, consisting of members of the above firm. 

The same year the branch was opened a very serious acci- 
dent occurred on this branch, whereby Mr. George Kellogg 
lost his left arm by falling from a train of freight cars in 
motion. Previous to this the younger son, Lauren, nearly 
lost his life by the accidental discharge of a gun while hunting 
on the banks of the Galvvay reservoir. In both cases their 
vigorous strength and indomitable will snatched them from 
the jaws of death and restored them to health. 

Fifty years ago the capacity of the small mill on the banks 
of the Juchtanunda at West Galway v/as one barrel of oil a 
day or 10,000 gallons a year. To-day the yearly output is: 
linseed oil, 1,700,000 gallons; oil cake, 15,000 tons; and the 
consumption of flaxseed about 750,000 bushels. 

Practically, Amsterdam is a city of the nineteenth century, 
and beyond a few primitive sawmills and grist mills all of the 



Early Industries 329 

industries that have made it a city have been inaugurated, 
extended, and multiplied within the nineteenth century. 

The very first year of the new century or the very last 
year of the old (1900) was the centennial of the erection of 
the first church building in the village of Amsterdam (Ved- 
dersburg). 

Among the many and varied industries that have been the 
potent element that has developed a primitive hamlet of a 
half-dozen families to a thriving city of 20,000 inhabitants, is 
the carpet industry. I speak particularly of this industry as 
it seems to have been woven into the early life of the city 
more than any other, from the fact that the persons who have 
done more than any others to establish the two great indus- 
tries of Amsterdam — the manufacture of carpets and the 
manufacture of knit goods — were formerly partners in a small 
carpet factory standing on the site of the present buildings 
of the Greene Knitting Co. 

The history of the carpet industry of Amsterdam reads 
like a fairy tale; with its small beginning and struggle for 
existence, and its present immense plant and the affluence of 
its proprietors. 

Sometime about 1836, William K. Greene, Senior, met with 
reverses in business in Connecticut, his former home, but at 
once set about retrieving his fortune; his son, William K. 
Greene, securing a situation in a silk mill at Poughkeepsie 
as bookkeeper. Thinking that there was a good opening for 
business in the village, he advised his father to come there 
and open a boarding-house. Poughkeepsie was then quite a 
manufacturing town, and, besides fulling mills, woollen fac- 
tories, an oil mill and a large number of grain mills, there 
were fifty looms in families for the manufacture of cloth for 
common clothing. In 18 10 there was only one hotel and 
about 3000 inhabitants in the village. W. K. Greene, Senior, 



33^ The Mohawk Valley 

went to Poughkeepsie and opened a boarding-house, as ad- 
vised by his son. 

Among his boarders was a man by the name of Douglass, 
an experienced dyer, whose father was a manufacturer of 
ingrain carpets in Scotland. 

A great deal of his conversation was about carpets and 
carpet manufacture, and he soon interested Mr. Greene and his 
son to the extent that they began to think seriously of start, 
ing a factory in a small way. 

One day, while talking with Mr. Douglass about carpets, 
being undecided where to locate, Mr. Greene picked up a 
copy of the A^ew York Herald, and noticed an advertisement 
of an old satinet mill and dwelling at Hagaman's Mills, offered 
for rent for one hundred dollars a year. 

They at once secured the buildings, purchased six hand 
looms and the necessary apparatus complete and loaded them 
on a sloop en route for Albany. 

Thus by accident or by fate the carpet industry was 
brought to the Mohawk Valley. This was in the month of 
December, but before the vessel reached Albany a severe spell 
of cold weather closed the river and they found their plant 
fast in the ice fifty miles from their destination. Nothing 
daunted, however, they caused their looms to be loaded on 
sleighs and in that primitive fashion, after a journey of fifty 
miles, arrived safely at Hagaman. 

With the Greenes came Douglass, William Perkins, and 
William Wright, son-in-law of Mr. Perkins, experienced 
weavers, but, like all of the others except Douglass, knowing 
little about the manufacture of carpets. 

After a few years of varied success at Hagaman, the firm 
was induced by the advice of Mr. John Sanford and others to 
move their plant to Amsterdam village and establish them- 
selves in a long, low, yellow building, formerly the mill site 



Early Industries 333 

of the sawmill of Albert H. Vedder, the founder of Vedders- 
burg, and now occupied by the immense factory of the Greene 
Knitting Company. After the change in the location of this 
primitive carpet factory, John Sanford became associated with 
the Greenes in the manufacture of carpets, and continued a 
member of the firm for some time. 

The old yellow mill was burned in 1849. How well I re- 
member that cold, windy, midwinter night! It being my first 
experience of a fire of magnitude is probably the reason that 
the occasion has made such a lasting impression on my 
memory. Even the weird, undulatory clang of the old Bap- 
tist Church bell, as its sound, borne upon the wind, reached the 
ear, from the frantic efforts of some person unused to the 
method of ringing the alarm, seemed to cry " Fire! fire!! 
fire!!!" which sound was soon changed to the harsh, mean- 
ingless sound of a broken bell, as the bell had indeed been 
broken by the frantic efforts of the ringer to arouse the sleep- 
ers. As we reached the foot of the hill the sight that met my 
inexperienced eyes was grand and fearful. Truly it was a 
light set upon a hill that could not be hid. The tongues of 
flame borne to and fro by the wind, the myriads of sparks 
vanishing in the blackness of the heavens, the sombre ever- 
greens on Cornell's Hill fitfully lighted by the roaring flames, 
the creak, creak of the fire engine toiling up the hill through 
the ruddy whiteness of the snow-covered street, the hoarse 
shouts and oaths of the firemen, the cries of " Fire! fire!! " 
gave a nervous chill to the looker-on that was not all at- 
tributable to the intensely cold night. 

The building was totally destroyed. Shortly afterwards 
Mr. Sanford sold the land and mill site to W. K. Greene (whose 
heirs are in possession of the property at the present day), and, 
in company with his son, Stephen Sanford, fitted up an old 
stone mill at the head of Church Street for a carpet factory. 



334 The Mohawk Valley 

Jehiel Dean also erected a weave room on Livingston 
Street where a box factory now stands, and W. K. Greene, 
Sr., also engaged in the manufacture of carpets in a small way 
on the opposite side of said street. 

The building on the north side of the street was afterwards 
bought by Mr. Stephen Sanford, and subsequently destroyed 
by fire, and the building on the south side was purchased by 
John M. Clark and moved to the corner of Livingston and 
Chuctanunda Streets and used as a carpenter shop. This 
building was subsequently burned and rebuilt of brick, and 
after numerous changes is now known as Morris Mill No. 3. 

In 1853 the old stone mill, as it was then called, was de- 
stroyed by fire but was immediately rebuilt, only one story 
high, but covering about three times as much ground. 

Mr. Stephen Sanford entered the carpet manufactory in 
1844, and in 1848 formed a copartnership with his father, Mr. 
John Sanford. After the destruction of the old stone mill, 
Mr. Stephen Sanford purchased his father's interest, which 
was little else than the ruins of the burned mill. He imme- 
diately set to work rebuilding and enlarging the factory, which 
year by year has increased in magnitude under his personal 
supervision. 

As the business prospered, new buildings were erected for 
the manufacture of different materials that enter into the 
manufacture of the various kinds of carpets produced in these 
mills, and for the storage of raw material. 

At present this immense plant comprises thirty-six build- 
ings, whose floor space amounts to six hundred and sixty- 
three thousand square feet, or about fifteen acres. 

When we think that this immense floor space is covered 
with machinery, engines, boilers, looms, and shafting, to- 
gether with stock and manufactured product of the mills, and 
that the daily product of the mill would carpet the road from 



Early Industries 335 

Amsterdam to Johnstown, or more than five milHon yards in 
a year, with a pay-roll of over $1,000,000 in twelve months, 
we may begin to conceive its magnitude and to feel additional 
respect for the man and mind that has created and controls it. 

I think it is safe to say that during the last half-century at 
least forty thousand persons have earned a living and in some 
cases a competency in this mill. Some have grown gray 
inside its walls; others have built factories of their own, and 
have shown their business ability by making a success of 
their undertaking. 

A long list could be made of men holding prominent places 
in the business interest of our city who served apprenticeship 
in the Sanford carpet factory. Among them are W. B. Smith, 
James T. Sugden, William McCleary, the late John Howgate, 
Almon Filkins, Samuel Wallin, John Grouse, and a host of 
others, including John Lorrimer of Philadelphia. 

I might go on and give statistics of the business of this 
mill, — of the millions that have been paid to employees 
during the last fifty years, of the thousands of miles of carpets 
that have been manufactured and the thousands of employees 
who thus earn their daily bread, and of the capital that is re- 
quired to conduct this immense business; but this has so often 
been written by other pens than mine that I shall refrain 
from statements whose figures, in the language of the old 
Scotchman, would only " begumble the senses and confound 
the imagination," and would be revealing matters of a per- 
sonal character to which the public can claim no right, 
although the proprietors might not have any desire to with- 
hold them. 

The success of this great business is a matter of pride to 
the citizens of Amsterdam, from the fact that not alone has 
the city been benefited by its success, but private individuals 
and organizations of all kinds have received benefit, by its 



33^ The Mohawk Valley 

enabling the proprietors to gratify the natural impulse of their 
generous hearts " with hands open as day to melting charity." 

Of course there have been seasons of depression in this 
business, seasons that come in the life of most business men, 
when profits are light or none at all, seasons when losses are 
heavy and money hard to get. But although there have been 
times when money had to be hired at as large a rate of interest 
per month as it can be secured for now per year, the pro- 
prietors' paper has always been paid at maturity. 

If I should be asked why this firm, which is composed of 
Hon. Stephen Sanford and his son, Hon. John Sanford, has 
succeeded while others have failed, I should say that it is 
because the senior member is possessed of seemingly opposite 
characteristics, — cautiousness and boldness; cautious not to 
enter upon any method of action until he is sure he is right, 
and then to execute the same with boldness and energy. 

Up to 1854 the product of this mill was ingrain and three- 
ply carpets manufactured on hand looms, and as the business 
increased it gave employment to a large number of experienced 
weavers. Previous to 1849 ^^^ ^^^ frame building stood on 
Main Street just west of the present site of the Farmers'^ 
National Bank, and was used as the post-office and law office 
of Joseph French, who was also postmaster. Mr. John San- 
ford bought the post-office building and had it carefully torn 
down and re-erected as a loom shop next to his buildings on 
Church Street. This building was used as a hand-loom shop 
for a great number of years, even after the large mill build- 
ings had been filled with power looms for the manufacture of 
Brussels carpets. In fact, this old building was retained and 
hand looms used for a long time, more for the purpose of 
finding employment for a number of old and experienced 
weavers who had been in his employ for a number of years 
than for any pecuniary benefit to be derived therefrom. This 



Early Industries 2>o7 

old landmark was torn down a few years ago to make room for 
the large Axminster mill that now covers its site. 

The history of the carpet industry would not be complete 
if mention were not made of the carpet factory of Shuttle- 
worth Brothers. About 1872 or 1873, Mr. James Wade, an 
Englishman of good family connections in Bradford, England, 
was brought to Amsterdam by Mr. Stephen Sanford to do 
some special work in his mills. He was a man of education, 
of fine personal appearance, and gentlemanly address, and 
soon won the confidence of some of the business men of that 
place. With James Wade came Joseph Coats, Elijah Smith 
and John Simpson, all experienced workers in the carpet 
business. 

A short time after coming to Amsterdam, Mr. Wade, in 
company with Charles De Wolfe, William H. Arnold, and 
Stephen H. Kline, organized a stock company for the manu- 
facture of carpets, and succeeded to the extent that a building 
was erected on the bank of the Mohawk River at the foot of 
Vrooman Avenue. The factory was stocked with looms and 
other machinery, but owing to dissensions among the stock- 
holders or want of capital, it was not run as a stock company, 
and soon passed into the hands of Stephen H. Kline and 
William H. Arnold, under the firm name of Kline & Arnold. 
This firm conducted the business a few years, making Brussels 
carpets, which from various reasons did not prove a success, 
and the mill was closed. Subsequently the looms and machin- 
ery were sold by parties interested in New York, and the 
building stood empty awhile, or until it was purchased by the 
Shuttleworth Brothers. 

In 1875 Mr. William Shuttleworth, the father of the 

Shuttleworth Brothers," came from England to Glenham, 

N. Y., to start a carpet factory for A. T. Stewart & Co., and 

was made superintendent of the same, his sons, some of whom 



The Mohawk Valley 



had grown to man's estate, being engaged in different depart- 
ments of the mill. 

After the death of William Shuttleworth in 1878, his sons 
bought, of New York parties, the carpet-mill building on the 
bank of the Mohawk at Amsterdam, and, returning to Eng- 
land, advantageously secured fifteen looms for the manufacture 
of body Brussels carpet. The firm at that time consisted of 
James, John, and Walter Shuttleworth, who, together with 
Herbert, a younger brother, constituted a quartet in which 
was comprised knowledge, ability, and skill to operate every 
department of the factory. 

The f&mily connections are quite extended, and many of 
them may be found among the skilled workers in different 
departments of the mill and are among the most estimable 
residents of the city. 

The firm now consists of James, John, and Walter 
Shuttleworth. The younger brother, Herbert, has lately 
established a dye-house on a large scale in the western part 
of the city. 

After the burning of the carpet factory on Market Street 
hill, W. K. Greene, Senior, had a small factory for the manu- 
facture of carpets in a building on the Juchtanunda Creek in 
the rear of what is now called the Sanford flats. He afterwards 
moved the plant to the upper story of a frame building situ- 
ated on the south side of Livingston Street, the lower story 
being occupied by William Connell for the manufacture of 
rugs. 

About 1850, William K. Greene, Jr., erected a brick mill 
on the site of the old yellow mill, and in company with Davis 
W. Shuler conducted a carpet mill for a short time, when 
the partnership was dissolved. W. K. Greene, Junior, secured 
the Harris property, erected a building and moved the carpet 
machinerv into it, and conducted this business until 1861, 



Early Industries 339 

when he disposed of the stock and machinery to Stephen San- 
ford. In 1857 he formed a partnership with John McDonald, 
for the manufacture of knit goods in the brick building which 
is now the centre of the immense plant of the Greene Knitting 
Co. This partnership was dissolved in a year or two, and Mr. 
Greene conducted both mills alone until 1861, when, having 
disposed of the carpet business to Mr. Stephen Sanford, he 
turned his whole attention to his hosiery business. The war 
of the rebellion having commenced, a great demand for knit 
goods sprung up, the factory was run to its full capacity, with 
great profit, and soon it was necessary to enlarge the plant. 
Building after building was erected, as the business increased, 
until the whole of the present large mill was completed. Mr. 
Greene did not live to see it, however, as his health failed, and 
he went to Europe in 1869, together with his wife and Miss 
Bennett, in hopes that he might derive some benefit from a 
change of climate and freedom from business cares. 

The change, however, did not have the desired effect, and 
he gradually grew worse, and while sojourning at Rome, died 
Jan. 22, 1870. 

The body was placed on board a sailing vessel, and arrived 
at his home during the spring of 1870, his family having pre- 
viously arrived by steamer. 

During the absence of Mr. William K. Greene in Europe 
the business, under the firm name of William K. Greene & 
Son, was conducted by the junior member of the firm, Mr. 
Elijah P. Greene. After the death of Mr. William K. Greene, 
and the return from Europe of his youngest son, Henry E. 
Greene, the style of the firm was changed to W. K. Greene's 
Sons, and so conducted until the death of Elijah P. Greene, 
when it was changed to W. K. Greene's Son & Co., and con- 
tinued under that name until the death of Henry E. Greene, 
when the present firm, The Greene Knitting Co. was organized. 



340 The Mohawk Valley 

During the administration of Elijah P. and Henry E. 
Greene, the business was enlarged and many improvements 
made. W. K. Greene has not only the honor of being the 
first manufacturer of knit goods in Amsterdam, but the 
founder of what has grown to be one of the largest hosiery 
mills in the city. 

It is about forty-four years since William K. Greene and 
John McDonald inaugurated the knit-goods industry in Am- 
sterdam, with what was called a three-set mill. At present 
there are tw^enty-three knitting mills, with about two hundred 
sets of machinery and an annual output of about 12,000,000 
pieces. 

In 1850 William Connell, who had been employed as an 
overseer in the old yellow mill, secured an old building on 
Spring Street in the rear of the building now known as No. 12 
and started the mianufacture of tufted rugs, with four looms. 
He subsequently moved to the lower story of the frame build- 
ing on Livingston Street spoken of before, increasing his 
plant to twelve looms. Somewhat later he removed to the 
old post-office building on Church Street, the property of Mr. 
Sanford. Still later the looms were purchased by Mr. Stephen 
Sanford and used for weaving ingrain carpets. 

I remember well the Livingston Street mill, as I had occa- 
sion to pass it quite frequently in those days. Nearly all the 
hands that were employed were boys from twelve to twenty 
years old, and they always seemed to have a good time at their 
work, and some of them were always ready to play with the 
passers-by. 

The names of some of the boys will be recognized as well- 
known residents of Amsterdam. Among others were Samuel 
Ward, Hiram Simmons, Fountain Ward, Edward Fosmire, 
Frank Fosmire, Dennis Garrigan, James Faulds, Walter 
McCowatt, David McCowatt, Daniel Mutimer, Walter 



Early Industries 341 

Mitchell, Tunis Peck, John Nevins, James McNally, James 
Mailor, Wm. Mailor, and " Puffy " Clark. 

" Puffy " was a little barefooted Irish lad, generally clad 
in a cotton shirt, and a pair of trousers with one suspender. 
He was a bright little fellow, and was very much interested in 
the prize fight between Tom Hyer and Yankee Sullivan, which 
was fought about that time, and was ever ready to stand up 
before any boy of his size to show his knowledge of the 
noble " art of self-defence. Quite a friendship sprung up 
between " Puffy " and myself, something of the Tom Sawyer 
and Huckleberry Finn kind. I remember that I admired him 
and was proud of his friendship, and envied him his accomplish- 
ments, which, in addition to his willingness to fight, with or 
without provocation, consisted of the art of swearing like a 
trooper, and chewing tobacco like a sailor, although only 
fourteen years old. What became of " Puffy " in after-years 
I do not know, but I have always remembered his little pale 
face and ready fist. 

A desire to emulate " Puffy's " virtues and to be more 
worthy of his notice, led me to try and learn to chew tobacco. 
My father was quite a smoker, and kept his tobacco in his 
office on a high shelf out of my reach, but I was frequently 
sent to the store for a fresh supply. Having decided to learn 
to chew, I boldly went to the store one day and bought a 
paper of tobacco and had it charged to my father. I remem- 
ber that the tobacco was inclosed in the dull blue paper used 
in those days, with the words " Ben Payn's Smoking To- 
bacco " and two crossed pipes printed thereon. 

In the rear of the store was a pile of lumber, back of which 
I went and put some tobacco in my mouth, hid the paper 
under the boards, and chewed my quid like a little man. 

It was not long before I felt that I did not like the weed as 
well as I thought I would, and was glad to throw away the 



342 The Mohawk Valley 

nasty stuff. By the time I arrived at home I was pale and 
dizzy, and soon attracted the attention of my mother. Those 
who have had a similar experience will appreciate the various 
degrees of misery through which I passed, and the anxiety of 
my mother over the strange symptoms that successively pre- 
sented themselves. The throes of the stomach were aug- 
mented by the stings of conscience, when I thought of the 
whole wretched business, and I was willing to vow that I 
would never look at a bit of tobacco again as long as I lived. 

Thus ended my attempt to become a tobacco chewer, and 
not even " Puffy " Clark was told of my failure. It was many 
long years before I again touched tobacco in any form. 

William Connell is remembered as a scholarly man, a great 
reader and a profound thinker. He married Miss Nancy 
Merrill, a sister of the late Mrs. Tunis I. Van Derveer. After 
selling out his rug business he opened a small store on the 
north side of Main Street, near the creek. This store became 
the resort of many of the intellectual residents of the village, 
and was often the scene of many spirited debates. He died 
in 1866 at the age of fifty-nine. 

In 1886, John Howgate, William McCleary, Samuel Wal- 
lin and David Grouse, former employees in the Sanford & 
Sons' carpet factory, formed a copartnership for the manufac- 
ture of rugs, securing a building on the east side of Bridge 
Street in Port Jackson. During the same year the building 
was destroyed by fire. 

Securing a building at Rockton which had formerly been 
occupied as a shoddy mill, they moved what was left of their 
plant, and were soon in order for business, with twenty-five 
hand looms for weaving rugs. 

From that time to the present, the enterprise seems to 
have been a continued success. During 1897 it was found 
necessary to erect another large three-story brick building 



Early Industries 343 

some distance from the others. This building is fitted with 
power looms which are run by electricity, transmitted by 
cable from a large dynamo situated in one of the older 
buildings. This method of transmitting power on a large 
scale is new in Amsterdam, and is interesting in the perfect 
success of the enterprise. 

It will probably surprise most of my readers to know 
that at present the factory is fitted with 185 looms, employs 
three hundred and twenty hands, and manufactures 3000 rugs 
per week, or an annual output of over 150,000 rugs, valued 
at about three-quarters of a million dollars. 



Chapter XIX 



Old Indian Names and Sites — The Legend of 
Little Falls 



THERE is more or less speculation about the origin of 
the word Caughnawaga, the popular impression being 
that it was the name of a tribe of Indians that were 
located near the present site of Fonda. This cannot 
be, as there never was a tribe of Indians of that name, but it 
may have been a corruption of two words, Gandawague, the 
name of an Indian village of the time of Isaac Jogues, and 
probably located near Kline, and Ca-han-i-a-ga, the distinctive 
name of the Mohawks. (Of course you are aware that the 
word " Mohawk " is not Indian at all, because there were no 
labials — /;, />, i>i — in the Mohawk language ; but it is un- 
doubtedly what was called " Mohawk Dutch.") 

There is another definition of the word Caughnawaga, 
which seems to me to be the correct one. Between 1667 and 
1669, the French Jesuit Fathers Pierron, Bruyas, and Fremin 
were successful in converting a number of the Iroquois to 
Christianity. Father J. Wynne of the order of Jesuits of 
New York City in a recent letter says: " You will notice that 
it was the policy of the fathers to withdraw the Christian In- 
dians from the Indians still unconverted, all along the valley, 
from the lower Mohawk castle as far as the Onondaga." 

The " Praying Indians," as they were called, were located 
near the Lachine Rapids on the St. Lawrence and the village 
named La Prairie by the French and Caughnawaga (" at the 

344 



Old Indian Names and Sites 345 

Rapids") by the Indians; and although the settlement was 
composed of Indians from the Canadian tribes and the tribes of 
the Iroquois Confederacy, among whom was the great Mohawk 
chief, Krin, they were always called Caughnawagas, or Praying 
Indians. At the burning of Schenectady there were sixteen 
Algonquins, and one hundred and fourteen Frenchmen, and 
eighty Caughnawagas or Praying Indians, led by Krin, the Mo- 
hawk chief. It will be seen that although the name may mean 
and probably does mean "at the Rapids," it does not refer to 
rapids in the Mohawk, but to the site on the St. Lawrence at 
the Lachine Rapids. The Dutch named their early settlement 
near Fonda Caughnawaga, thereby transferring a word that be- 
longed to the St. Lawrence River to the Mohawk Valley. The 
Dutch settlement was located at the eastern end of the present 
site of the village of Fonda, the old Caughnawaga church 
erected in 1763 and demolished in 1868 probably being the 
centre of the old settlement. Investigations by archaeologists 
of the Mohawk Valley have brought to light the site of an In- 
dian village, which is also called Caughnawaga or Gan-da-wa- 
gua, situated on the sand flats west of the village of Fonda. 
A desire to see the old Indian site was the object of a recent 
visit to Fonda by the writer. 

Inquiry of many persons young and old failed to elicit the 
desired information as to its locality, and an accidental meet- 
ing with the Rev. Washington Frothingham seemed providen- 
tial, as he possessed the requisite knowledge of its location and 
kindly imparted the same. Following his direction I visited 
the sand flat where it is said to have been situated. Ac- 
customed to flats of the Mohawk Valley which lay along the 
river and are frequently covered with water in spring and 
during heavy rainstorms, I was somewhat surprised to find 
the sand flats on what is called the four-hundred-feet plateau. 
I enjoyed the tramp to this elevated plateau, and was charmed 



34^ The Mohawk Valley 

with its level, fertile fields and its fringe of forest trees that 
partially obstructs the view to the east and to the north, while 
to the west and south the landscape reminded me of the 
words of Byron's Dream — " A gentle hill green and of mild 
declivity, the last as it were the cape of a long ridge of such, 
save that there was no sea to lave its base, but a most living 
landscape, and the wave of woods and fields of grain, and the 
abodes of men scattered at intervals, and wreathing smoke 
arising from such rustic roofs " — and in the distance the glis- 
tering, shimmering Mohawk. 

Although unsuccessful in my search for the exact location 
of the site of the ancient village, I felt well repaid for my 
walk, notwithstanding the dusty road and excessive heat that 
brought my blood nearly to the boiling-point. At a subse- 
quent date, having informed myself of the exact site, from a 
map drawn by the Rev. C. A. Walworth, and published in 
Miss Walworth's Lily of tJic Mokaivks, I continued my search 
in company with Prof. J. A. Maney. 

Starting from the railroad depot our attention was attracted 
to the old Fonda Hotel, its facade of Ionic columns suggesting 
the idea of a Grecian temple. It is quite an ambitious struc- 
ture, and must have presented a very impressive appearance 
at the time of its construction, in 1835, from its isolation and 
the poverty of its surroundings. A suggestion of the same 
style of architecture is also seen in the old court-house, south 
of the New York Central Railroad. 

Our route to Caughnawaga and Tekakwitha spring led us 
up Main Street to the Cayadutta Creek, which we followed 
along its eastern bank until we came to a white bridge span- 
ning the creek. The bridge seems to have been constructed 
for private use as the road leading from it ended in a farm- 
yard. As we were nearing our destination and desiring more 
definite information, we accosted a sturdy young man we met 




TEKAKWITHA Sl'KING, FU.NUA 



347 



Old Indian Names and Sites 349 

as follows: " Excuse me, sir, do you reside near here?" 
" Yes, sir." " Have you lived here long ? " " About seven 
or eight years." " Do you know where the site of the old 
Indian village, Caughnawaga, is located?" "No, sir, I 
never heard of it." " Did you ever hear of a spring near 
here called Tekakwitha spring ? " "No, sir. " The Professor 
smiled as we passed on, remarking that we were having our 
usual success. In the farmyard we met a man whose slow 
step, bent form, and gray hair seemed to indicate a septua- 
genarian. After the usual preliminary greeting I inquired: 
" Have you lived here long ? " " Over sixty years." " Did 
you ever hear of a spring called Tekakwitha spring ? " 
" No." " Do you know where the site of the old Indian vil- 
lage, Caughnawaga, is ? " " That is down that way," pointing 
to the east, " but they say that there are some Indian graves 
up on the sand flats." " Can you tell us where ? " " Up on 
the top of the hill, but I don't know just where." 

The Professor again smiled and we again passed on, re- 
marking that we would have to trust to the map. Rain-drops 
were beginning to fall, but not daunted in the least we fol- 
lowed the track of the F, J, & G. R. R. along the high ground 
on the west for about a quarter of a mile, until we came to a 
point where the Sand Flat Hill recedes from the railroad in the 
form of a half-circle, forming a level swampy field partly 
covered with brush and berry bushes. Following an indistinct 
path through this tangled mass, which led us in an erratic 
manner up and down the slope and through the swamp, we 
came at last to a wooded ravine at the head of the circle. 
A barbed wire fence was safely passed and we found ourselves 
in a small grove, and, about half-way up the hill, came upon 
Tekakwitha spring. With a great expansion of imagination 
we pictured the young Indian maiden in the scanty dress of 
Indian childhood, picking her way down the steep woodland 



350 The Mohawk Valley 

path from the plateau above, with a rude earthen jar to be filled 
at the spring below. Perhaps other children of both sexes were 
following her, while at the spring crouches a painted warrior 
drinking in a primitive way of its cool water. Near by stands 
a dirty, unkempt squaw, cooling her feet in the stream that 
ripples down the hillside on its way to the Cayadutta Creek, 
while all around, the earth has been trodden bare by the 
coming and going of many feet from the village on the flat 
above, and broken branches and dead leaves choke the mur- 
mur of the waters. 

To-day the stream is marked by the impress of the hoofs 
of the kine of the valley below, and scattered about are broken 
pieces of decaying fence boards, an old tin pail, a bit of red 
tile, and two narrow planks doing duty as a bridge near the 
spring. The spring itself issues from under the roots of a 
white birch tree, whose leafy branches bend over the spring 
as if to guard it from the rays of the sun. The gnarled and 
tangled roots of the parent tree remind one of the ten- 
tacles of a huge octopus, as they stretch out over and into 
the black depths of the spring itself. Nature, with the aid of 
art, would make this little vale a beautiful spot. The Profes- 
sor, who took a snapshot of the spring and its surroundings, 
and who has a reputation of producing gems of beauty from 
the most incongruous elements, succeeded in making a very 
fine photograph of this secluded spot. 

We were nearing the end of our search for the Indian vil- 
lage, and climbing the steep path out of the ravine, we 
reached the sand flat and the field wherein the site of Caughna- 
waga is said to be. Diligent search failed to find any evidence 
of the old village, as the woodman's axe and the ploughshare 
have long ago obliterated all trace of palisade and Indian 
sepulture. Previous search and examination, together with 
the finding of evidences of Indian occupation, have estab- 




THE FALLS OF THE CANAJuHAKIE 



351 



Old Indian Names and Sites 353 

lished the fact, however, that this spot was the site of old 
Caughnawaga. 

Kateri Tekakwitha was an Indian maiden born at Ganda- 
waga (Caughnawaga) in 1656. Her mother was a Huron 
captive and her father a Mohawk chief. At an early age she 
embraced Christianity, and in 1675 was baptized by the Jesuit 
Father de Lamberville. Shortly after, she fled to Canada to 
escape the persecution of the Mohawks, on account of her 
religion. Her route is said to have been along the Chucta- 
nunda Creek at Amsterdam, and her destination Caughnawaga, 
at the Lachine Rapids, on the St. Lawrence River, where she 
arrived in the autumn of 1677. She died April 17, 1680, at 
the age of twenty-four. 

In Miss Walworth's Lily of the Mohawks, the story of her 
life is told. 

A few months ago I was riding in a drawing-room car on 
the New York Central Railroad through the Mohawk Valley. 
In the same car was a small party of gentlemen and ladies, 
and it was apparent from their conversation and personal ap- 
pearance that they were well-to-do, educated people, from 
one of our Western States, making their first trip through the 
valley of the Mohawk. It was very interesting to note their 
enthusiasm over the rocks and hills, after a lifelong residence 
on the flat lands of their Western prairies, as they would call 
their companions' attention to a picturesque group of rocks or 
the wooded slope of some slight elevation. Unconsciously 
my eyes would follow the direction of their gaze, and would 
become aware of charming bits of scenery that through 
familiarity with the banks of the Mohawk I had passed many 
times without comprehension. 

From being interested in their evident enjoyment of the 
scenes they were so swiftly passing through, I became in- 
terested in the scenery itself, and discovered many beauties 

33 



354 The Mohawk Valley 

in the valley of my lifelong home that I had overlooked or 
had become so familiar with that they were, in a measure, 
rocks, and hills, and streamlets, and nothing more. Since 
that day I have looked upon the scenery of the valley with 
the eye of an enthusiast, and have found beauty in every 
bend of the river and in every ripple of its riffs and shallows. 

Here and there throughout the valley numerous tributaries 
"flow into the river, some of them being large, permanent 
streams, others mere rivulets, magnified into torrents at every 
considerable rainstorm. 

In many of the ravines or gorges through which these 
smaller streams flow are hidden charming bits of scenery, 
some of which might be dignified by the word " sublime." I 
have in mind the ravine through which Lewis Creek runs, 
which I visited with Charles Newman of Cranesville. As 
before stated, this creek is the eastern boundary of the land 
which was purchased by Lewis Groot in 171 5 (who was one 
of the first purchasers of land in the town of Amsterdam), 
and named Adriutha, and known as Cranesville. 

There are many objects of interest in this ravine, one of 
which is a very large spring that is situated at the base of the 
hill about three hundred feet from the turnpike. 

The volume of water issuing from this spring was sufificient 
to furnish the requisite power for the primitive mill erected by 
Groot in 1730, on the site of the old building now known as 
Swart's mill. At the present time there are the ruins of two old 
mill-dams between the mill and the spring, the woodwork of 
the structure having decayed and almost entirely disappeared. 
The dam nearest the spring is the smaller of the two and 
seems to have received the water from the spring alone. The 
sides and front of the dam are earth embankments, but the 
face or pour is reinforced by a dry wall of flat stones. This 
stone front is further reinforced by stone buttresses on each 



Old Indian Names and Sites 355 

side in the shape of a quarter-circle, while in the face of the 
front wall is a square opening or gate with rotten wood facings, 
evidently used to discharge the water into the lower dam. 
The lower dam is constructed of earth and stone, in the same 
manner as the upper one, but without the stone buttresses, 
the two together being capable of storing quite a respectable 
quantity of water. The gray, or rather almost black, stone 
walls are moss-grown and in various other ways give evidence 
of their age, which is " nigh onto " one hundred and seventy 
years. 

The spring itself will warrant more than a passing notice. 
Care was taken ages ago to wall it up on three sides, making 
an enclosure about six feet square, in the center of which the 
water boils as though forced from below, in a quantity that 
would fill an eight- or ten-inch pipe, and from the situation of 
the dams it would appear as though the water from the creek, 
which is some distance away, was excluded from the dams. 
Probably because the flow of water in the stream was small 
except in storms, when it became a torrent. 

Penetrating the ravine a little farther, over a rugged path, 
we find that Lewis Creek is made up of two streams, one from 
the east and another from a northerly direction, the acclivity 
of the banks of both ravines being almost insurmountable. 
Entering the bed of the stream which flows from the northerly 
direction we become aware of an obstacle in our path that it 
will be impossible to overcome, which is the sheer precipice, 
of perhaps fifty feet in height, of Adriutha Falls. I would 
say that this name, Adriutha, is applied to the falls probably 
for the first time, as it is usually spoken of by the homely 
name of Buttermilk Falls, although the application is not 
evident. 

All this locality between Lewis Creek and Eva's-kill was 
called Adirutha or Adriuche, and this name is mentioned in the 



35^ The Mohawk Valley 

transfer of this parcel of land, and flats and woodland directly 
opposite at Kline, the supposed site of On-e-ka-gonc-ka, to 
Hendrick Cuyler in 1686. I would therefore ask the public 
to accept the name " Adriutha Falls," for this picturesque 
feature of nature in this wild gorge, instead of the wholly in- 
appropriate name " Buttermilk Falls " ; also to apply it to the 
large spring in the glen, " Adriutha Spring." I have been 
told that in the spring, and in rainstorms, the falls are a 
beautiful sight; but for the greater part of the year no water 
falls over this precipice. 

Reaching the top of the cliff from another direction we 
find that about fifty feet from the brink is another fall, about 
ten feet high, that cannot be seen from the bed of the creek 
below. Water is running over this cascade, but disappears 
before it reaches the brink of the precipice. The ascent to 
the top of the banks of the ravine is somewhat tiresome, but 
if the climber enjoys the picturesque features of nature he will 
be well paid for his labor. About one hundred feet below 
the precipice, at one side of the gorge, is a very large boulder 
which geologists will probably say was deposited where it now 
rests during the glacial period. Over tliis boulder and on 
the cliffs that constitute the rocky bank of the stream, honey- 
suckles are growing, the profusion of the many-pointed purple 
flowers adding a charming bit of color to the gray rocks that 
seem to be incapable of affording the requisite nourishment to 
this hardy climber. 

The branch of the stream from the east is broken by many 
cascades, and the banks of the ravine are quite abrupt, but at 
one point a steep ridge or spur, sometimes called a " hog's 
back," is seen, with a well-worn path from creek to summit. 
The acclivity would be very difficult if it were not for trees 
and saplings to assist the climber along its narrow ridge. My 
principle object in visiting this ravine was to find, if possible. 




ADRIUTHA FALLS, CRANESVILLE 



357 



Old Indian Names and Sites 359 

some evidence of Indian occupation. I had been told by 
some of the residents on the top of Swart's Hill that there 
were a number of holes or depressions in the ground along the 
ravine that were objects of interest on account of the mys- 
tery surrounding them, and their evident ancient origin. It 
had been suggested that they had probably been used as corn 
pits by the aborigines. A thorough search along the eastern 
bank failed to reveal them, but ashes and charcoal were found 
five or six inches under the earth on the eastern brink of the 
ravine at the point where the path or trail on the " hog's 
back " reached its summit. 

Unexpectedly, I found the holes near the Adriutha Falls, 
on the western bank, but in such numbers that they could 
hardly have been used as corn-pits. Instead of four for five 
holes, I found fifteen near the western slope of the ravine, in 
an irregular regularity that would indicate that they had been 
dug for a purpose, but for what object I was unable to decide. 
A thorough examination of a few of these holes may solve the 
problem. 

It may be thought that I am spending a good deal of time 
in investigations that cannot possibly bring any fee or reward 
from a financial point of view. That is probably true; but 
there is a matter of great historical interest connected with 
the location of a large Indian village that undoubtedly existed 
on the banks of the Mohawk River between Amsterdam and 
Schenectady. The early history of the Mohawks is shrouded 
in mystery. Even the exact location of their castles at the 
time of the discovery of the Hudson River (in 1609) is still a 
matter of conjecture. Before the discovery of Van Curler's 
journal of 1634, all or nearly all of the researches of archaeo- 
logists were directed to points above Schoharie River, and 
theories were built up to prove that as early as 1642 the first 
Mohawk castle was located on the west bank of the Schoharie. 



36o The Mohawk Valley 

The only knowledge we have of that early period is obtained 
from the Relations of the Jesuits, the statement of some of the 
Hollanders at Fort Orange, and, in 1666. the account of De 
Courcelle and De Tracy's expedition to the Mohawk country, 
at which time they destroyed the four forts or castles of the 
Mohawks, and in all these accounts I can find nothing to con- 
tradict the theory that the first castle was located between the 
city of Amsterdam and the village of Pattersonville. That 
many of the Mohawks frequented the north bank of the Mo- 
hawk in that locality, is shown by the numerous relics that 
are found along the flats and first range of hills north of the 
river. 

The location of an Indian site is the object of our search, 
and the residents of the valley will assist materially by re- 
porting their " finds," or any embankments or holes of ancient 
origin they may have discovered in their immediate vicinity. 
The finding of flint or stone implements, ancient pottery, 
fresh-water clam-shells, burnt stone, ashes, and charcoal at a 
little distance under ground, has often led to the discovery 
of the ancient site of an Indian village. What I mean by 
ancient, is a village that existed previously to 1609, or perhaps 
as late as 1666. 

In all the early maps of the Mohawks' country, Vander- 
donk's of 1655, Visscher's of 1656, or the Jesuit map of 1665, 
although the three or four Mohawk castles are depicted 
thereon, the Schoharie, which might well be called a river 
where it enters the Mohawk, is not shown on any of them. 
If it was located between Fort Orange and the castles or 
Indian villages, it ought to have been known to the map- 
makers, especially as the little Mariaville pond is shown on 
two of these maps. Therefore we are inclined to look for 
three of the Mohawk castles of the above date below Schoharie 
River. 



Glacial Period in the Valley 3^3 

I have no intention of posing as a scientist, but a recent 
visit to the picturesque little city of Little Falls, with its vast 
jumble of ragged rocks and high, water-worn cliffs, turned my 
attention to the probable cause of the natural phenomena so 
plainly visible at the rocky city of the upper Mohawk. 

As early as 1840 Prof. Louis Agassiz, the noted naturalist, 
advanced the theory that the northern part of North 
America during the glacial period, was covered with an 
ice-cap which reached as far south as the fortieth parallel of 
latitude, and north to the utmost limit of the earth. This 
included all of New York State to the Atlantic Ocean. The 
time of this period no man knows, or will ever know; but it 
was eons upon eons ago. The movement of the glacier, 
whose great weight and impetus were irresistible, was toward 
the sea, and in its journey it carved out valleys and converted 
jagged rocks into polished boulders, which were in some cases 
carried hundreds of miles and deposited in valleys and on 
mountain tops. 

In the vicinity of the Adirondacks and the White ]\Ioun- 
tains this glacier was more than a mile high, while in British 
America its estimated thickness was about two miles. This 
immense body of ice increased gradually from age to age, 
from north to south, and as gradually disappeared from south 
to north. The valley of the Mohawk was probably formed 
by part of this great stream of ice denuding the hillsides and 
disrupting mountains. 

As the ice-cap receded from the sea, it left the valley of the 
Hudson bare, which became the means by which its melting 
body was conveyed to the Atlantic Ocean. Gradually the 
valley of the Mohawk was uncovered, and the ice receded to 
the vicinity of Lake Ontario, while yet the ice barrier blocked 
the St. Lawrence Valley, forcing the Lake Ontario depression 
to fill and the waters to extend in every direction except the 



364 The Mohawk Valley 

north, until it found relief at Rome, New York, and the 
Mohawk Valley became the only outlet to the sea of the 
great Lake Iroquois, or Ontario, and Lake Spencer, as 
the enlarged basin of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and 
Erie combined has been called. Some of the water found 
its way to the Mississippi Valley at Chicago ; but the greater 
part flowed through the Mohawk Valley. This continued 
until the St. Lawrence Valley was relieved of the glacier 
(which continued to waste slowly at both ends), and the 
waters of the great lakes found their natural outlet to the sea 
by the St. Lawrence, and the Mohawk Valley was relieved of 
this vast accumulation of waters. The above theory has been 
gathered from a monograph on Lake Agassiz, by Warren 
Upham, and published by the director of the United States 
Geological Survey in vol. xxv. 

On the beautiful Sunday afternoon and evening that I 
wandered about the rockbound city of Little Falls, I tried to 
imagine this wild spot as it Appeared to the phlegmatic Pala- 
tine settlers at Manheim, Danube, and the German Flats in 
1722. At that date the rapids and their adjoining shores 
were in all their primitive grandeur, unadorned or marred by 
the works of man. Undoubtedly the water-power early at- 
tracted to their border the saw and grist mills, whose dams 
probably were an unwelcome barrier to the daring warriors 
who trusted their lives to the birchen canoe in shooting the 
rapids. Li every direction would have been seen rocks and 
running water, and rocky hills crowned with the primeval 
forests. For nearly a mile extended the cascades between 
perpendicular cliffs from two to four hundred feet high, while 
at the foot of the rapids the stream was deflected by Moss 
Island or Moss Rock to pass through a rocky channel about 
forty feet wide to the placid stream beyond. On the south 
side of the river the perpendicular face of a cliff one hundred 



The Legend of Little Falls 367 

feet high, called Lovers' Leap, threw its dark shadow on the 
turbulent stream, while to the west, for nearly a mile, the 
bare, perpendicular, rocky face of a hill four hundred feet 
high, rose sheer from the shore of the rapids. A story is told 
of a young Indian maiden and her dusky lover, who, being 
pursued by a hostile band of Indians, sprang from this cliff, 
clasped in each other's arms, preferring death to separation. 
This occurrence gave to the locality the name spoken of above, 
but judging from the numbers of Jacks and Jills who now 
congregate on this elevated spot on summer evenings, it might 
well be renamed " Lovers' Retreat." 

In 1848 Benson J. Lossing passed down the Mohawk Val- 
ley, stopping at points of interest in search of material for his 
Field Book of t lie Revolution. His description of Little Falls 
is very interesting. Among other things he describes a 
cavern on one of the cliffs which at that period overhung the 
New York Central Railroad at a point nearly opposite the 
Lover's Leap." He says: 

The rugged shores present many incontestable evidences of 
abrasion by the violent action of water, thirty to sixty feet above 
the present level of the river. Many of them are circular, perpen- 
dicular cavities in the hard rocks, which are composed chiefly of 
gneiss, granite, and horn blende. 

On the western (northern) shore of the river a few yards from the 
railroad and about thirty feet above its bed is a large circulai cavity 
with an opening about ten feet wide facing the river, and over its 
entrance a massive lintel which appears as if hewn and placed there 
by the hands of man. Within this cavity, which is open at the top, 
are smaller ones on its concave side. Indian legends invest these 
cavities with romantic interest. One of them I will repeat, in brief, 
as it was told to me, for it is identified with the spot described. 

Long years ago, when the river was broader and the falls were 
more lofty, a feud arose between two young chiefs of two of the 
clans of the Mohawk tribe, the Wolf and Tortoise. A maiden of 
the Bear Clan was the cause of the feud, as maidens often are. She 



o 



68 The Mohawk Valley 



was loved by both of the young chiefs, and for a time she so 
coquetted that each thought himself beloved by her in return. (As 
maidens often do.) Her father was a stern old warrior, and loved 
his child tenderly. Both chiefs had fought the Mingoes and 
Mohegans by his side, and the bravery of each entitled him to the 
hand of the maiden. Her affections were at length stirred by the 
more earnest importunities of the Wolf, and she promised to be- 
come his bride. This decision reached the ears of the Tortoise, 
and the embers of jealousy which disturbed both while unaccepted 
suitors, burst into a flame of ungenerous revenge in the bosom of 
tlie disappointed lover. He determined to possess the coveted 
treasure before the Wolf should take her to his wigwam. With well- 
dissembled acquiescence in her choice, and expressions of warm 
friendship for herself and her affianced, he allayed all suspicions, 
and the maiden rambled with him in the moonlight upon the banks 
of the river when her affianced was away, unconscious of danger. 
The day approached for the maiden to go to the wigwam of her 
lord. The Tortoise was with her alone in a secluded nook upon 
the bank of the river. His light canoe was near, and he proposed 
a voyage to a beautiful little island in the stream, where the fire-flies 
sparkled and the whippoorwill vvhispered its evening serenade. 
They launched, but instead of paddling for the island, the Tortoise 
turned his prow toward the cataract. Like an arrow they sped 
down the swift current, while the young chief, with vigorous arm, 
paddled for the northern shore. Skilful as with the bow and 
hatchet, he steered his canoe to the mouth of the cavern described, 
as then upon the water's brink, seized the affrighted maiden, and 
leaped ashore, at the same moment securing his canoe by a strong 
green withe. The cave was dry, a soft bed of skins of beasts was 
spread, and abundance of provisions were there stored. At the top 
of the cave, far above the maiden's reach, an opening revealed a 
passage through the fissures of the rocks above. It was known only 
to the Tortoise; and there he kept the maiden many months, until 
her affianced gave her up as lost to him forever. At length, while 
hunting on the southern hills in flowery May, the Wolf saw the 
canoe at the cavern. It solved the question in his mind. The 
evening was clear, and the full moon shone brightly. He waited 
until midnight, when, with an arm as strong and skill as accurate as 
his rival's, he steered his canoe to the mouth of this cavern, which 
twas lighted up by the moon. By its light he saw the perfidious 




ON THE TOW-PATH, LITTLE FALLS 



369 



The Legend of Little Falls 371 

Tortoise sleeping in the arms of an unwilling bride. The Wolf 
smote the Tortoise, but the wound was slight. The awakened 
warrior, unable to grasp his hatchet, bounded through the opening 
at the top of the cavern, and closed it with a heavy stone. The 
lovers embraced in momentary joy. It was brief, for a fearful doom 
seemed to await them. The Tortoise would return with power, 
and they had to make choice of death by the hatchet of the rival 
chief or by the waters of the cataract. The latter was their choice, 
and in affectionate embrace they sat in their canoe and made the 
fearful leap. The frail vessel struck propitiously upon the boiling 
waters, and, unharmed, passed over the gulf below. Down the 
broad stream they glided, and far away, upon the margin of the 
lower lake they lived and loved for two generations, and saw their 
children's children go out to battle and the chase. In the long line 
of their descent, tradition avers, came Brant, the Mohawk sachem, 
the strong Wolf of his nation. 

Since the above was written (in 1848) the New York Cen- 
tral Railroad has been widened at this point, by cutting away 
the face of the northern cliff, and the Dolgeville Railroad now 
climbs along an incline, also cut from this cliff, and has un- 
doubtedly destroyed the cavern spoken of above. However, 
about five hundred feet from the viaduct that carries the last- 
named railroad across a deep ravine at the eastern end of the 
city, is to be seen what seems to be the back of this cavern, 
recessed about two feet from the present face of the cliff, and 
surmounted by a slab or lintel perhaps fifteen feet long and 
three feet thick, reminding one of an entrance to some rock 
temple of India, as described by travellers. On the tops of 
both the northern and southern hills are found many pot-holes 
of varying size and depth, plainly indicating that the immense 
prehistoric streams that flowed through the Mohawk Valley 
from Lakes Iroquois and Spencer must, at some period, have 
passed over the highest hills at that point. That there was 
a very high fall in existence where the foot of the rapids 
now is, seems to be indicated by the disrupted rocks in that 



Z']2 The Mohawk Valley 

vicinity, and the great depth of water at that point, which is 
said to be a hundred feet or more. 

A very interesting rock is seen near the lower iron bridge, 
and about one hundred feet from the river bank, and perhaps 
thirty feet above tlie present level of the stream. The rock 
stands about fifteen feet above the surrounding earth and is in 
the shape of a horseshoe whose outer diameter is about fifty 
feet, inner diameter about twenty feet, and the width of 
the horseshoe about fifteen feet, with the opening to the west, 
or up the stream. The inner surface of this horseshoe or 
broken circle, which is bowl-shape, is perpendicular and 
marked with segments of a circle all around the inside, plainly 
showing the rotary motion of water and debris, as it was 
poured in immense volume from high falls above it. At the 
eastern end of the inner circle is a pot-hole five feet deep and 
about two feet in diameter. This hole has been worn through 
the side near the bottom, indicating the manner in which this 
immense bowl was formed. I have no doubt that the removal 
of the accumulation of earth and water from the bottom of 
this bowl would uncover a cavity of remarkable interest. 

But Little Falls is historic as well as prehistoric. Across 
the river, below the State dam which feeds the Erie Canal, 
are the remains of a well-constructed shallow aqueduct of 
seventy feet span, which was formerly used for floating canal 
boats from the canal to a large basin which was situated on 
the north side of the Mohawk, back of the present station of 
the New York Central Railroad. This aqueduct is no longer 
used, one of the arches having been destroyed. 

In a previous chapter mention is made of the early mode 
of navigating the Mohawk River and the canal at Little Falls, 
and from Rome to Wood Creek, and so on through Oneida 
Lake and Oswego River to Lake Ontario, with two short 
portages in Oswego River. 



The Legend of Little Falls 375 

To improve the waterway to the West, the Inland Lock 
Navigation Company, in 1795, constructed a canal about two 
miles long, from below the rapids to the deep water above the 
falls. This canal was cut through the rock on the north bank 
of the river, and with the aid of five locks bateaux were raised 
42 feet and launched into the smooth water above the falls. 
A small portion is still to be seen in the western part of the 
city, also the stonework of the two upper guard-locks or 
gates. The canal seems to have been cut through solid 
rock, was about ten feet wide, and ten feet deep at the upper 
lock. The width of the old canal indicates the maximum 
width of the bateaux used by the early navigators. 



Chapter XX 
Canajoharie — The Hills of Florida 

THE Indian name for Canajoharie seems to have been 
spelled Can-a-jor-ha, and was originally applied to a 
singular hole in the creek that enters the Mohawk 
River at that place. The Indian interpretation is 
said to be " the pot that washes itself," the water seemingly 
boiling as it flows from this singular hole in the bed of the 
creek. The name was also applied to the stream itself and to 
lands south of the Mohawk in its vicinity, and in after years to 
the village that grew up at its mouth after the Revolution. 
Historians, however, have of late years confused readers by 
confounding the Indian town of Canajorha with the Canajo- 
harie of the present day. 

All of the south side of the Mohawk, from the Nose or spur 
of the Mayfield Mountains which crosses the river near Spra- 
kers, to the highlands at Little Falls, was known as the land 
of the Can-a-jor-has, and when the Canajoharie Castle is 
spoken of, it means the Indian settlement in the town of 
Danube in Herkimer County, and now known as Indian 
Castle, which was the home of Brant and Hendrick and the 
place where Sir William Johnson assisted in building a church 
which is called by writers, " the church at Canajoharie." 

The first name we find applied to the present village of 
Canajoharie is Scramling, from a tavern kept by Henry Scram- 
ling, situated on the river " opposite the Freys," as an early 
chronicler records it. 

376 



Canajoharie — The Hills of Florida zil 

Smith and Wells make the following entry in a journal: 
" 13th May, 1769 — At Scramlin's we turned off from the river, 
pursuing a S. W. course for Cherry Valley." — " The carriers 
tell us that they were paid 30 shillings a load for carrying from 
Scramlin's to Otsego Lake." 

The creek itself is a thing of picturesque beauty, with its 
high cliffs and a cascade where the water falls from forty to 
fifty feet. 

Opposite Canajoharie is Palatine Bridge, a station on the 
New York Central Railroad. In a history of Montgomery 
County we find the following: 

The earliest settlement in this town, and probably the first west 
of Schenectady on the north side of the Mohawk, was made by Hein- 
rich Frey, a native of Zurich, Switzerland, who, in 1688, left that 
city for America, bringing with him an open letter from the mayor 
addressed " To whom it may concern." Upon his arrival in New 
York in 1689, he received from Gov. Dongan a " location ticket " 
for 100 acres of land on the Schoharie creek, but the Mohawk Val- 
ley having more attractions for him, he soon removed thither, and 
settled just west of the present village of Palatine Bridge, where he 
erected a log cabin on a knoll near a fine spring. Here he laid 
claim to a tract of 300 acres of land, his only title to it, aside from 
possession, being, probably, obtained from the Indians. This land 
was subsequently included in the patent issued to Van Slyck, from 
whom Frey procured a permanent title. The old homestead has 
always remained in possession of the family and is now the property 
of S. L. Frey, Esq., who represents the sixth generation. The log 
cabin was occupied until 1739, when a substantial stone dwelling 
was erected. 

This building can be seen a few rods w^est of the village. 
It has a row of port-holes on all sides, and during the French 
wars was stockaded and occupied by several companies of 
troops. The photograph of this ancient dwelling is repre- 
sented on page 379. A picture is also given of a curious 



37^ The Mohawk Valley 

old window in the Ehle house (1752-1900) at Nelliston, N. Y. 
The house may also be seen from the car windows on the 
right-hand side going west between the Frey house and St. 
Johnsville. 

For many years trav^eilers hav^e viewed the valley of the 
Mohawk from the north side of the river, passing under the 
shadow of hills that tower above them, while their eyes have 
become so familiar with the southern shore that they cease to 
be impressed by its beauty. The West Shore Railroad, 
therefore, gives to the traveller the valley under a new aspect 
and opens vistas that he hardly recognizes. 

One morning in the latter part of May I boarded the West 
Shore milk train, en route for Indian Castle. A thick haze 
somewhat obscured the sun, and the air was still and warm. 
As the sun climbed toward the zenith feathery shadows were 
fitfully seen as we sped along the valley, while the sun itself, 
surrounded by a hazy halo and thin, fleecy clouds, looked 
more like the full moon of a summer night than the brilliant, 
blazing orb of day. The hills and valleys were partly ob- 
scured by a light blue vapor, which revealed the gray of the 
rocks but toned the bright green of forests and fields to olive 
tints. As we near the Nose, or rather Noses, just east of 
Sprakers, the river makes a sharp bend from north to south, 
which, as we sped along, opened a charming vista of the Mo- 
hawk, and permitted us to see a long distance up the river be- 
tween the high hills of the Noses, which a moment before 
seemed to obstruct our passage. 

On both the north and south sides of the river the hills 
rise perpendicularly to a great height, showing a great mass of 
rock with clinging vines and shrubs and crowned with pine, 
cedar, and hemlock, whose dark foliage is mingled with the 
lighter green of oak and maple. At some distance from the 
point where we enter the pass, the northern ridge falls away 



I 



Canajoharie — The Hills of Florida 381 

into a wide ravine, or short valley, running to the north back 
of the county farm. 

Among the rocks of this ravine has been established an 
industry which, though it is said to be a monopoly, w^e do not 
care to have transferred to our city. I can pledge you my 
word that the Board of Trade will have nothing to do with it. 
In that ravine lives a man who retails oil at two dollars an 
ounce. His harvest begins in the warm days of spring, when 
the snow is disappearing, but is of comparatively short dura- 
tion. At that season he dons his rubber boots and incases 
his legs in lengths of stove pipe, arms himself with a stout 
club and invades the haunts of the rattlesnakes that infest that 
locality. You can judge of the number slain by the fact that 
during the year 1899 he sold one hundred and fifty dollars' 
worth of rattlesnake oil at two dollars an ounce. 

The hill on the south side of the river is sometimes called 
the " Little " Nose, but to one that gazes at its rocky eleva- 
tion of 740 feet, from its base, the name seems to be misplaced. 
Near its top, a little distance to the south, is the egg-shaped 
opening of " Mitchell's cave," a cavern very interestingly de- 
scribed by Percy N. Van Epps, in a publication called The 
Museum. The entrance is made by a perpendicular drop, by 
means of a rope, of about 16 feet, to an opening 1 1 by 30 feet 
and 13 feet deep. From this point, by incline plane and per- 
pendicular descent, Van Epps, Van Home, Hartley, and others 
penetrated to the depth of 280 feet without finding any very 
large rooms or extensive horizontal galleries. The cave or 
cavern has the appearance of having been formed by a huge 
cleft in the mountain, and the exploration is made not with- 
out danger, and with considerable discomfort. 

The name Anthony's Nose is applied to similar high hills 
in two other places in New York State, one on Lake George, 
near " Rogers's Slide," and the other in the highlands on the 



J 



82 The Mohawk Valley 



Hudson. You will probably recall Washington Irving's story 
in his Knickerbocker History of Neiv York, of the incident 
which caused the last-named hill to be called " Anthony's 
Nose." 

Peter Stuyvesant and his trumpeter, Antony Van Corlear, 
are sailing up the Hudson on a voyage of discovery. Early 
one morning, while their sloop is passing the highlands, 
Van Corlear is lounging on deck. The sun, rising over a high 
hill, lights up the large red nose of Antony. Glancing from 
his nose, the ray of sunlight strikes the water and kills a stur- 
geon. Whereupon Governor Stuyvesant proclaims that the 
hill shall be called " Anthony's Nose." 

Passing by the rocky hills and extensive flats of the Mo- 
hawk, and many a lone fisherman, and glimpses of the old 
stone houses known as the Frey and Ehle houses, on the op- 
posite shore, with due milk-train speed we at last reached Indian 
Castle. We missed the usual crowd at the station, because there 
are not enough people in the hamlet to make a crowd. The 
object of our journey being to visit the former home of the 
Indian warrior, Joseph Brant, and a church built by Sir Wil- 
liam Johnson in 1763, we turned our steps toward the only spire 
that was visible. It being near our usual dinner hour, we ac- 
costed a lady, as we crossed the bridge that spans the Con-o- 
wa-da-ga, or Castle, Creek, and asked if there was a hotel or 
store in the place where we could procure some food. She 
kindly informed us that there were none, but volunteered the 
information that there was a canal grocery about three-quar- 
ters of a mile away that had a license (?). Further inquiry 
elicited the information that we could procure the key to the 
church of Mr. Willis Green, who lives in a large white farm- 
house, with extensive conservatories adjoining, situated near 
the church edifice. This locality is interesting because it was 
the last home of the Canajorhees, and the upper castle of the 



Canajoharie — The 'Hills of Florida 385 

Mohawks during Sir William Johnson's residence in the 
valley. 

I feel somewhat timid in writing about the Canajorha 
Castle after S. L. Frey of Palatine has given it his considera- 
tion for so many years, and has written so much about it. But 
I purpose writing from my standpoint of investigation, trust- 
ing that if I am wrong he will correct me. As Indian Castle 
is situated in Herkimer County, I also feel as though I was 
encroaching upon territory belonging to historians of the ad- 
joining county, and may differ somewhat from their conclusions. 

In Miss Walworth's TckakivitJia is a map of ancient Indian 
villages, drawn by General John S. Clark, of Auburn, who 
was accompanied by Mr. S. L. Frey when sites of the villages 
were located. Although all other villages are represented as 
having changed their location frequently between 1642 and 
1700, the Canajorhees seem (according to this map) to have 
been permanently located about two miles north of Palatine 
Bridge, and that they were never located at the village now 
known as Canajoharie. 

We will have to accept the conclusions of Messrs. Clark 
and Frey, as I know of no better authority than they on this 
subject. The same uncertainty about the Canajorhees seems 
apparent after 1700, until they were settled at Indian Castle 
on the Con-o-wa-da-ga Creek. We know that they were there 
in 1755, when Sir William Johnson built a fort for them and 
named it Fort Hendrick, and that a block-house was there 
previous to that date, but I have not been able to ascertain 
the time of their removal to that locality. I have in my pos- 
session, however, a copy of an old deed which may throw a 
little light on the subject. It is a deed from the Indians to 
Jan Wemp of Fort Hunter, and describes the large island still 
in possession of his descendants. The western end of this 

island is opposite Fort Hunter. It reads as follows: 
25 



386 The Mohawk Valley 

" . . . possession and demand of in and to all that 
great island lying and being in the county of Albany, in 
the M aquas river most opposite to the Indian castle at Cana- 
joJiary, together with as much land on the main on ye south- 
west side of said river as said island is in length, ' ' etc. , etc. The 
above deed was dated 1720. My attention was called to it by 
the late R. A. Grider. The phrase "most opposite to the 
Indian castle at Canajohary," would seem to indicate that it 
was located either to the east or to the west of the great 
island at Fort Hunter. 

East of the island, on the north side of the Mohawk River, 
on the high hill between Fort Johnson Creek and Dove Creek, 
many evidences of Indian occupation have been found, and 
may have been the site of the Canajohary Castle in 1720. Sir 
William bought this property in 1739, and probably between 
the two dates, 1720 and 1739, the Canajorhees located at In- 
dian Castle. In another deed to Jan Wemp, dated 1728, for 
lands in the same locality, occurs this sentence: " Know that 
for sundry good causes and lawful considerations in moving, 
but more especially for the love and affection we bear to our 
loving friends, Jan Wemp and Cornells Van Slyck," etc., etc. 
This would seem to indicate a rem.oval of the Indians to some 
other locality and may have been the time that the Canajor- 
hees moved from the north to the south side of the river, or it 
may refer to the removal of an Indian village from the lands 
purchased by Jan Wemp on the mainland. Evidence of an 
Indian village is still seen on the hills about 1000 feet south 
of the Wemple residence. 

Indian Castle of to-day presents few evidences of former 
Indian occupation except a few sunken graves in a cedar 
thicket at the western edge of the precipitous hill on which 
stands the old church. Mr. Willis Green, whose house stands 
within the line of the old stockade, pointed out a well still in 



Canajoharie — The Hills of Florida 389 

use, which was said to have been in the centre of the fortifi- 
cation, while back of his house is still to be seen the outline of 
the foundation of the house of Joseph Brant and King Hen- 
drick. A hill on the opposite side of the creek is probably 
the site of the old block-house spoken of in the following let- 
ter from Sir William Johnson to Governor DeLancy : 

Mount JoHXSON, June 6, 1755. 

Sir: — I returned last night from the Conhogohery Castle, having 
first been at the Mohock Castle. At both settlements I have fixt on 
Places to build them Forts. At Cohogohery I propose it on the 
Flat Land out of Gun-Shot from the Hill where the Old Block 
houses now stand, out of which upon the Point of the said Hill I 
propose to erect a good Block House. On the rear of the intended 
Fort, there is a clear, improved Vale run of more than half a mile, 
on the left Flank it will be assisted by the said Block house on the 
point of the Hill, a fire between which and the Fort will clear the 
open land on that side; the land is all clear and cultivated in 
the Front. On the right side there are a few Bushes and small 
Wood to clear, when all will be open on that side for more than half 
a mile. One of the Bastions to serve for a church, etc., etc. 
I am 
Sir 
With the Utmost Respect 
Your Honours 
Most Obedient & 
Most Humble Serv't, 

Wm, Johnson. 
Gov'r Delancy. 

Procuring the key of the old church from its hiding-place 
in the horseshed, I explored the old edifice, but did not find 
much of interest, as the interior has been modernized, except 
the windows, which still retain their small panes of glass. 
The entrance, which was formerly on the west side, has been 
changed to the north. I was told of an old bell in the steeple 
which is fractured and useless, on account of rough usage at 



390 The Mohawk Valley 

the time of the Indian exodus to Canada during the Revolu- 
tion. The Canajorhees attempted to take the bell with them, 
but when the whites became aware of it thev pursued and 
overtook the canoes on the Mohawk River. It is said that in 
order to save the bell from capture it was thrown into the 
river. It was afterward recovered by the whites and replaced 
in the belfry from which it had been taken, but in a damaged 
condition. 

About two miles west of the village, still in a good state of 
preservation, is the old brick residence of General Herkimer, 
erected in 1764. 

The first bridge across the Mohawk at Amsterdam was 
erected in 1821. 

This bridge was to consist of two spans, with abutments 
on each side of the river, and a pier in the centre. It is quite 
evident that the engineer who planned its construction would 
never have been engaged to erect the Brooklyn Bridge, as a 
portion of the Amsterdam Bridge fell of its own weight before 
its completion, and the plan was changed and the bridge con- 
structed with two piers instead of one. The foundation of the 
old pier in the centre can yet be seen during the summer, 
when the water is clear. This bridge was carried away by a 
flood in 1839, ^^^ another bridge that was immediately 
erected met a similar fate in 1842. The third stood firm until 
1865, when the northern span was carried away during the 
spring flood of that year. 

In the early part of the spring of 1865 heavy rains had 
cleared the Mohawk of ice, and continuing for a number of 
days filled the river until it seemed as though the banks could 
hold no more. In fact, it overflowed into the Erie Canal and 
filled some of the levels east of Auriesville. 

At that time a new lattice bridge was being built across the 
river at Fonda, the heavy lattice timbers being in place. The 



Caiiajoharie — The Hills of Florida 393 

banks of the canal above having been washed away, two large 
canal boats passed into the river and, floating down, struck and 
wrecked the uncompleted structure. 

The morning this occurred was bright and beautiful with 
the sunlight of early spring, and many people were on the Am- 
sterdam Bridge and the banks of the river, watching the 
unprecedented flood, which reached within three feet of the 
bridge, a covered structure of heavy, latticed timbers, that had 
withstood the wear and tear and storms of years. The water 
surging by was forced in huge volumes up the piers, and fell 
from their sides in muddy brown cascades, and seethed and 
boiled as it lashed the sides of the blocks of stones, as though 
it were angry that its course should be checked by such a 
seemingly frail impediment. Inside of the structure on beams 
and lattice was the dust of thirty years' accumulation. About 
ten o'clock a telegram was received that the bridge above had 
been wrecked, and, with two canal boats, was floating down 
the river. The great danger to the Amsterdam Bridge was 
instantly recognized, and the merchants locked their stores 
and hastened to the river side to watch for the first appearance 
of the impending danger. 

Soon, in the distance, could be seen a black object, which, 
as it drew nearer, was recognized as a large canal boat with 
cabins at each end and covered deck between, and about a 
thousand feet behind, a large section of the wrecked bridge 
with its new timbers glistening in the sunlight. On came the 
boat, with the speed of a race-horse, sitting high in the furious 
current, and it was seen at once that it could not pass under 
the bridge. 

When it was about five hundred feet away it was floating 
broadside with the current, but as it drew nearer the bow 
swung around, and, amid the stillness of the breathless multi- 
tude, struck the north span of the bridge about thirty feet 



394 The Mohawk Valley 

from the pier nearly head on, with a blow that made the old 
timbers bend like a bow. The recoil seemed to force the boat 
back; the current catching the stern landed it on the pier 
in its centre, and was immediately forced up the pier by the 
force of the current, until the whole huge boat was nearly out 
of the water. There it hung, balanced across the pier, with 
every joint creaking, for about twenty seconds, when the bow 
settled to the north, and with deliberate majesty plunged its 
whole length into the stream and out of sight, came up below 
the bridge, shaking the water from its deck like a huge levia- 
than, and passed on down the river. The shout that arose 
from the multitude was almost immediately checked at the 
sight that met the eye as it again turned westward. There, a 
short distance up the river, was the span of the bridge, float- 
ing slower, but with resistless force, with the broken ends of 
the lattice sticking out in front like the prongs of a grappling 
iron. On, on it came, straight for the injured span, which it 
grappled to its wounded side, and amid the creaking and 
groaning of timbers torn asunder was engulfed by the 
wrecked span. Without any seeming diminution of speed, 
with its victim close locked in its embrace, it floated down the 
river and was stranded on the flats below. The wreck was 
hardly out of sight before the second span of the Fonda 
Bridge came down on the south side of the river, with a rock- 
ing motion that carried it nearly out of sight, and as it dipped 
in the water just as it reached the bridge, it passed under 
without doing any damage save tearing off a few boards as it 
came up again below. 

With their accustomed energy the village trustees took 
measures to establish communication with their neighbors on 
the south side, and in due time an iron span was constructed 
which did good service until 1876, when another disaster oc- 
curred of a more serious nature. 



Canajoharie — The Hills of Florida 397 

During the winter of 1876, from causes for which nature 
alone was responsible, an immense ice-gorge was formed in the 
shallow riff near the Atlas mill. This began early in the 
winter, and by spring had grown to such formidable propor- 
tions that it seemed as though nothing but the heat of the sun 
would ever remove it. During the month of February, how- 
ever, a season of warm rains melted the snow and filled the 
streams to their utmost capacity and culminated on the even- 
ing of February 15th with more rain and a strong westerly 
wind. 

Soon the ice below the bridge began to heave and groan, 
with ever and anon a report like a pistol shot, giving warning 
that the ice was breaking up under great pressure, and it was 
at once feared that the bridge was in great danger. Persons 
hurrying to their homes across the bridge through the dark- 
ness reported that the planks that constituted the floor of the 
bridge were raised in front and behind them as they swiftly 
sped from the impending danger. 

In those days we had no electric lights, and the gloom 
along the river bank was almost impenetrable to persons 
standing near the bridge. 

It was a fearful night. The roar and swish of the 
Chuctanunda in the distance, the mournful hum overhead, 
as the wind whistled through the wires and the iron 
bars of the bridge, the dismal rain-drops, the thick, misty 
blackness of the night, the cracking of the ice, and the 
fearful gorge with its overshadowing horrors in the dis- 
tance, were enough to make a person shiver with nervous 
terror. 

About ten o'clock at night the belated spectators were 
aware of the movement of the ice, and at once tried in vain 
to pierce the impenetrable darkness that brooded over the 
gorge in the distance. 



398 The Mohawk Valley 

Soon an unwonted sound, like the grinding, crashing and 
rending of an irresistible body in motion, was heard. 

Closer came the sound, and peering with straining eyes 
into the gloom, we saw for an instant, before fleeing to a 
place of safety, the shadowy whiteness of a moving wall 
towering above our heads, and heard the sound of falling 
bricks and timbers from buildings wrecked along the bank. 
As we ran, we turned and saw the wall approach the bridge, 
strike it, and bear it along in front of it, with no more ap- 
parent effort than if it had been composed of cardboard, and 
pass on, leaving behind the dismantled piers and the flood 
of water that was already overspreading the banks of the 
river, and the total v/reck of the substantial stone and brick 
building of Charles Spalt, near the bridge. If this was a fear- 
ful night, the morning brought a despondent day to those 
who had suffered from the flood, from wrecked buildings, and 
the loss of the life of a child as the parents were trying to 
escape from their threatened dwelling. 

The frame dwellings on the north bank of the Mohawk, in 
the rear of Charles Spalt's shop, had been moved from their 
foundations by the gorge, and were immediately surrounded 
by water. In one of these was George Laimbier, an elderly 
man, confined to his bed with illness. He was removed to a 
place of safety with difficulty. Mr. Needham occupied 
another dwelling, and attempted to make his way through 
the water with his three children clasped in his arms. One of 
them slipped from his grasp into the water, and in the dark- 
ness and confusion was drowned. 

Three other children were discovered by their cries to be 
clinging to a bush in the water. It is remembered that John 
F. Morris, attracted by the cries of distress, dashed into the 
water at the risk of his life, and one by one brought them in 
safety to dry land. 



Canajoharie — The Hills of Florida 399 

FLORIDA. 

The town of Florida, is in the form of a triangle, with 
its base, so to speak, on the Mohawk River and its apex 
at the junction of Schenectady and Schoharie Counties, a 
little southwest of Miller's Corners. This land was formerly 
part of the grant of eighty-six thousand acres to Walter Butler 
and forty-two others in 1733, and afterward the fourteen thou- 
sand acres of Sir Peter Warren's estate, and the grants to 
Edward and Phillis Harrison, Anne Wilmot, Maynard and 
Elizabeth Guerin, Henry Crosby and William Crosby, Jr., the 
last-named grants extending along the borders of Schenectady 
County, from Schoharie Creek to the Mohawk River. 

At that date (1735), all of the country in this section of 
the colony of New York was called Albany County, and the 
country west of Schenectady township was spoken of as the 
Maquaase country, or the country of the Mohawks. 

In 1788 the country north of the Mohawk River was 
known as the town of Caughnawaga, and south of the river as 
the town of Mohawk. 

Florida was formed from the town or district of Mohawk, 
March 12, 1793, and its first town meeting was held in April, 
1794, at the house of Ezra Murray. 

The triangular section of land spoken of was named Florida. 
It is not recorded who gave it that name, or why that beauti- 
ful Spanish word was selected. July 23, 1898, is the date of 
one of the many pleasant drives which the writer has enjoyed 
on the Florida Hills. Our road led past the Serviss & 
DeGraff mill in Mudge Hollow, which stands on the site of 
the first sawmill erected at that place, and owned by one 
Andrew Frank. About the beginning of the century there 
were two grist-mills and a tannery located at this place. The 
mills were owned by a Rowland and Mudge and McDonald. 



400 The Mohawk Valley 

and the tannery by Bethuel Dean, the grandfather of Luther 
L. and James Dean, and the other children of John, Daniel, 
and Henry Dean. Bethuel Dean's name is found in the 
early records of Amsterdam, then living near Cranesville. 
Later he bought a farm on Yankee Hill, which passed to his 
son, John, and was occupied by him at the time of his 
death. 

A letter from Oliver DeLancy to Sir William Johnson, 
October 26, 1765, says: " I have directed Mr. John R. Bleeker 
to survey Sir Peter's (Warren) Patents at ' Chuctanunda ' and 
lay them out in lots of one hundred acres each. He seems to 
apprehend some interruption from the Lidians. In such case 
I beg you will prevent their giving any trouble." 

It would seem .from the above that the land now known as 
Florida, or at least that portion of it near the mouth of the 
South Chuctanunda Creek, was designated by the owners of 
the patent as Chuctanunda, while that to the east was called 
Warrensburg, or Johnson's Settlement, and that Indian 
families were located near the creek, and probably cultivated 
the flats on which the fifth ward of Amsterdam is located. 

Turning to the left after passing the site of the old mills, 
our road led us over the first range of hills on the south bank 
of the Mohawk, which gave us a glimpse of the valley to the 
north and east. Coming to the old red-brick house of John 
Van Derveer, we are reminded that we are in the vicinity of 
the homes of the earliest settlers, and a little further on we 
pass farms that bear names of the pioneers of Florida, — Row- 
lands, Hubbs, Herrick, Thayer, Luke, Staley, Billington, 
Stewart, Van Slyke, Schuyler, Ferguson, McKinney, Ernest, 
Schuler, McClumpha, and a host of others, — and on the top of 
a high hill, midway between the homes of Charles Ferguson 
and Fletcher Ernest, we stop our weary horse to gaze on the 
scene before us, and are more at a loss than ever to under- 



Canajoharie — The Hills of Florida 401 

stand why this beautiful country was named Florida. It is 
said that the name was given to the peninsula by the Span- 
iards, in allusion to the aspect of the country, the name 
signifying florid or flowery. It is also said that Ponce de 
Leon, who was in search of the fountain of life, touched the 
mainland rich with flowers on Easter Sunday, March 12, 15 12 
(Easter was called by the Spaniards, Pasqual Flores — the Feast 
of Flowers), and christened the country Florida. 

In the grand view before me I can see no flowers nor palm- 
trees, no live oak and cypress covered with moss and mistletoe, 
no stately magnolia or ambitious mangrove or cocoanut. The 
orange, the myrtle, the jessamine, the cork-tree are not in 
sight. In place of plantations of wide-leaf bananas, we see 
the tall stalks of corn and the flowering potato. No swamps 
and stagnant rivers, with lazy alligators and gigantic turtles 
basking in the sun, no birds of brilliant plumage and scream- 
ing, discordant notes, or lazy, ne'er-do-well negro boys and 
olive brown maids playing in the sand. No, this is not the 
Florida of Ponce de Leon, Narvaez, and De Soto, but it has a 
beauty of its own that is more attractive to the hardy North- 
erner. As I gaze from the vantage-point of the high ground 
south of Minaville, there is in view to the west the ever- 
green slope of Bean Hill, the highest point of land in 
Montgomery County, with its cultivated sides bright with 
meadow and forest, shielded from the western sun by its own 
vast height. To the east is the State road, opened in 18 12, 
to avoid the high hill on which we stand, and to make it 
easier to transport the heavy cannon and ordnance stores to 
the forts on the Western frontier. 

In front of us and all around us are fields of grain and 
meadows of clover and timothy that have already bowed their 
heads to the reaper and mower, leaving great patches of ivory- 
tinted stubble, and making a portion of the landscape look 
26 



402 The Mohawk Valley 

like a section of a huge crazy quilt. Here and there are great 
fields, dotted with innumerable tiny hillocks of darker hue, 
each little hillock disappearing as the well-laden hay wagon 
passes near and adds to its load. In the distance these tower- 
ing, rounded loads remind one of huge elephants, or, perhaps, 
a mastodon wandering aimlessly over the vast fields. Wheat, 
oats, and barley are still nodding their heads, waiting for the 
reaper, but the sheaves of rye that dot hill and plain remind 
us that harvest is at hand. All along the road we pass 
orchards of apple-trees and clusters of minor fruits, houses 
and fences in good repair, and no deserted homes. 

The hill on which we rest might well be called historic 
ground, as we stand in the centre of a mile square, settled by 
one of the first pioneers of the town of Florida. 

Some time near the year 1765, one Deboise bought of 
Edward and Phillis Harrison six hundred and forty acres, 
which was part of two thousand acres known as the Harrison 
patent of 1735. 

Dr. John Delamater says: " Lawrence Schuler sailed from 
Wurtumberg for New York in 1755 in company with his 
father and two brothers, one whose name was George; the 
younger, whose name is not remembered, died in New York. 
Lawrence and his brother George removed to Catskill where 
Lawrence married a woman by the name of Overbaug, who 
had five children by a previous husband, and whose maiden 
name was Sarah Deboise of French descent, and sister of the 
late Col. Benjamin Deboise, of Schoharie County, N. Y." It 
was through this wife that he probably came into possession of 
the Deboise mile square, and by whom he had three sons: 
Jacob, born at Catskill in 1765; Solomon, born at Catskill in 
1768; John, born in 1769, probably in Florida. 

Lawrence Schuler was born in Germany in 1736, and died 
February 14, 18 13, aged seventy-seven years. A brother of 



Canajoharie — The Hills of Florida 403 

Lawrence came to this country about the same time and 
settled on the north side of the Mohawk. I have not been 
able to learn his name, but, as a record on a tombstone in the 
family plot of the Schulers reads, " Jacob Schuler, Died 1807, 
Aged 75 Years," the supposition is that he was an older 
brother, and probably the ancestor of the Schulers who 
settled near Manny's Church. Lawrence had three sons, 
namely, John, Solomon, and Jacob. John Schuler had five 
sons, namely, D. Cady, Remsen, Daniel, Cholot, and Jacob. 
Solomon Schuler had four sons, William Solomon, Duane, 
John, and Jacob. Up to this time I have only been able to 
ascertain the genealogy of two of the sons of Lawrence 
Schuler, senior, as follows: 



Jacob 



Solomon 



John 



Wm. Solomon 

Duane 

John 

lacoh 



D. Cady 
Daniel 
-^ Remsen 
I Cholot 
1^ Jacob 



Davis W. 

James 

Darius 

Theo. Hale 

William 

Eliza 

Lydia 

Martha 

j Freeman 
( Henry V. 

■{ Darwin A, 



j William S. 
I Davis 



j Davis 
I Sanford 



It is said that when the sons of Lawrence came to man's 
estate, he divided his mile square of land, reserving two farms 
for himself, giving the farm lately occupied by Henry V. 
Schuler to his eldest son, John, and the farm adjoining, on 
the road to Minaville, to his son Solomon one each to the 
east to his sons Lawrence and Jacob, and reserving the 
balance, being two parts of the whole, for the homestead 
farm. The old homestead formerly stood in the field back of 
the present farmhouse of Fletcher Ernest, and the homestead 



404 The Mohawk Valley 

farm comprised the two farms now owned by Charles Fergu- 
son and Fletcher Ernest. 

Only one of these farms remains in the family, and that is 
the farm given to John, which has descended as follows: 
From John to Daniel, to Henry V., to Darwin A,, the 
present owner, son of Cholot. 

Solomon Schuler's farm has been transferred as follows: 
Solomon Schuler to Rufus Herrick, Rufus Herrick to Davis 
Herrick, Davis Herrick to Charles W. McClumpha, Charles W. 
McClumpha to George McClumpha, his son, the present owner. 

On a hill we stopped to rest. In front of us, and about 
midway between the house of Charles Ferguson and Fletcher 
Ernest, and directly in front of our resting-place, is the site of 
the first church in Minaville, and one of the first in the town 
of Florida. It stood in the centre of the churchyard, which 
was also the first cemetery in that section of the country. 
Off to the east may be seen the square tower and white 
building known as the Scotch Church, while in front of us, 
about a mile away, but hidden from sight by a woods, is 
situated the successor of the old church on the hill. From 
Beers's History I take the following: 

Lawrence Schuler was a man distinguished for good sense, tem- 
pered by a spirit of piety and benevolence, and diffusing an influ- 
ence of goodness and liberality through his family circle as well as 
in the neighborhood. The first Reformed Dutch church in the 
town was erected on his lands, as was also the neighborhood school 
house. He contributed towards the erection and support of both. 

To this church the Rev. Thomas Romeyn, of Caughnawaga, was 
called to minister in 1784, and he served acceptably some years. 
This church continued in use until 1808, when another was erected 
at the " Street," one mile west, and only occasionally was service 
held in the old church thereafter, and until the frame was sold and 
removed from its site. The burial ground around it had become 
populous, and it now contains many ancient headstones with quaint 
inscriptions. 



Canajoharie — The Hills of Florida 405 

At the present time this cemetery seems to have gone the 
way of all old graveyards, and is suffering from neglect to such 
an extent that a passer-by would hardly know that the simple 
wire fence that surrounds it encloses the ashes of the founders 
of Florida. The dense mass of rose and briar bushes and 
weeds of thrifty growth have produced a thicket around and 
over the sunken graves almost as impenetrable as the chapar- 
ral of the flowery peninsular on the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, 
I was able to decipher but a very few of the inscriptions on 
the tombstones. It seems a pity that this old graveyard, 
probably the oldest in Florida, around which hover so many 
sad and tender memories, should not receive enough attention 
from the proper authorities to render these old tombstones 
legible. The wisdom of setting aside a fund for the perpetual 
care of cemeteries is apparent when we reflect on the condition 
of this old graveyard. 

It is said that at the beginning of the last century 
Cranesville, Amsterdam (Veddersburg), and Minaville were 
about the same size, with odds in favor of Minaville. Very 
early in the settlement of the last-named place, some wag 
fastened upon it the name of Yankee Street, which was after- 
ward contracted to " The street," by which name it was known 
for many years. At that time Port Jackson was without a 
name, except Chuctanunda, and contained but two or three 
houses, while below, to the east, was Warrensburg, where con- 
siderable business was transacted. In the latter part of the 
eighteenth century Yankee Street was the centre or capital of 
Florida, where the pioneer farmers went to get their supplies. 
From Beers's History we make the following extract : 

Minaville, nearest the geographical center of the town, received 
its name in 1818, replacing the not very distinctive title "the 
street," or its less elegant form " Yankee street," by which it was 
long known. It was early and for many years quite a center of 



4o6 The Mohawk Valley 

country trade. It is prettily situated in a wide, verdant bowl whose 
southern rim is the Shellstone and Bean Hill ranges, and its 
northern horizon a lower line of ridges, forming a woody fringe. 
Through it flows the winding Chuctanunda. The quiet air of thrift 
and comfort that rests upon the place is not unattractive, and one 
could find here a pleasant home if seeking seclusion, the world for- 
getting and by the world forgot. 

Two churches, stores, a hotel, schoolhouse, cheese factory, 
and several shops are comprised in the village. 

The Reformed church, the successor of the " old church 
on the hill," was built in 1808, and the Methodist Church in 
1835. No wonder the stores were well patronized, when we 
read the names of the farmers who traded there, some as early 
as 1785; David Cady, Nathan Stanton, Ezra Murray, Law- 
rence Schuler, Daniel Schuler, Philip and Peer Frederick, 
William and Peter Young, George and Jacob Staley, John Van 
Derveer, Peter and Jacob Houck, Elisha Cady, George, Peter, 
and Christian Serviss, Rooleiffe Covenhoven, Asa Waterman, 
John Ouackenboss, Ephraim Brockway, Lewis Phillip, Philip 
Doty, Cornelius Phillip, William Phillip and Cornelius Phillip, 
the second, and a host of others. 

But why was the place called Minaville ? We are told that 
it was named in 18 18 by George Smith, who occupies a 
prominent place in the social and political annals of the town, 
and who was a courteous and successful merchant. He married 
two daughters of Judge David Cady, and built a residence 
which, at the time of its erection, was regarded as the finest in 
the county. He subsequently purchased and improved Fort 
Johnson, and dwelt there until his death. 

He was the grandfather of George Smith Devendorf, of 
Amsterdam, and Dr. Charles A. Devendorf, of Detroit, Mich. 

It is said that he named the hamlet after General Mina, a 
Spaniard. Why ? There were two Spanish generals of that 



Canajoharie — The Hills of Florida 407 

name. Gen. Francis Mina, a Spanish guerilla, harassed 
the French troops under Napoleon in Spain, and accom- 
panied by his nephew, Xavier, was captured by the French 
during the Peninsular War, and detained in Vincennes 
four years. He afterward went to England and became in- 
terested in the cause of the Mexican patriots in their struggle 
for independence. After receiving some aid in England, he 
sailed for America in 1816. In the United States he received 
sympathy and substantial aid and about two hundred Amer- 
ican volunteers. At Galveston he was reinforced by one 
hundred more Americans, and in April, 1817, he landed in 
Mexico with five hundred men and marched direct to the 
capital, cutting his way through such bodies of Spaniards as 
he met. 

He was successful in a number of engagements, but was at 
length surprised at night, captured, and put to death in front 
of the Fortress of Remedias, October 27, 1817, 

This was the man for whom Minaville was named, not be- 
cause he was a Spaniard, but because he was a brave man and 
the leader of American Volunteers fighting for the inde- 
pendence of an alien nation, and then, as in our recent war in 
Cuba, against the tyrannical Spaniards. 

In speaking of the descendants of Lawrence Schuler, I have 
only been able to follow the male line of his family. I have 
been told that Dr, John Delamater, uncle of Mrs. Davis 
Schuler, made an attempt to make a genealogical record of 
the Schuler family. He succeeded very well with the male 
line, but the record of the female line, with all the marriages 
and intermarriages, he gave up as a hopeless task, and he 
having failed, I feel that I am excusable for not undertaking it. 

Dr. John Delamater was born and reared in the town of 
Florida, and became a physician of eminence. For many 
years he was an able professor in his calling, at Fairfield and 



4o8 The Mohawk Valley 

at Cleveland, Ohio. He died there, a " beloved physician," 
for his amiable disposition, gentle manners, and goodness of 
heart. 



On the highest point of the first range of the Florida hills, 
which the French invaders in 1693 called mountains, is a 
tract of land formerly part of the Peter Warren grant, which 
is now known as the Van Derveer farm. After the war of 
Revolution, between 1790 and 1791, John Van Derveer, a 
native of New Jersey, but of Holland descent, settled on this 
land, then in its pristine ruggedness. Imagine if you can the 
view that met his eye and perhaps influenced his selection of 
a home for his family in the Mohawk Valley over a century 
ago. Coming as he did from the sandy flats of New Jersey, 
the sight must have seemed grand and beautiful. Immedi- 
ately in front of him were the primitive forests, whose tops of 
various shades of green and brown rolled in undulating waves 
as they conformed to the receding slopes of hills that 
stretched away on either side of the Mohawk River. 

Westward, hid from view by hills and forests, lay Fort 
Hunter, whose palisades enclosed the ruined chapel of Queen 
Anne; nearer, on the north side, stood Fort Johnson and Guy 
Park, both lately vacated by their fugitive owners. 

A line of gray between the river and the green bank above 
marked the Juchtanunda of the Mohawk, the rock * shelter 
along the shore of the Indians. ' 

Followmg the bank of the river a little farther eastward, 
the northern Chuctanunda pours its foaming, turbulent tide 
into the river which, in the distance, washes the base of the 
cliff of pictured rocks. .Still gazing toward the east he sees in 
the dim distance the Kinaquarione or Towereune of the 
Indians. 



Canajoharie — The Hills of Florida 409 

The stream itself is an avenue of commerce, and the 
laden bateaux of the boatman may be seen gliding along 
by means of pole and paddle. Along the north bank are 
trains of heavy canvass-covered \vagons making tedious haste, 
with four, six, and perhaps ten horses, and, perhaps, a well- 
filled Concord coach and files of Continental soldiers. 

If he allows his gaze to span the valley, his eye rests on 
another range of hills of equal height with his own, and per- 
haps even then he covets the land which after three decades 
became the property of a member of his family. 

John Van Derveer and his wife Katherine Conover lived 
in Florida over half a century, and, with their sons and daugh- 
ters, became a family of wealth and influence. 

By marriage the family may be traced to the descendants 
of nearly all the oldest and most prominent families of the 
present towns of Florida and Amsterdam. 

One of his ancestors, Cornelius Janse Van Derveer (Cor- 
nelius, son of John from the ferry), emigrated in the ship Otter 
in 1659 from Alkmaer in North Holland to New Amsterdam 
(now New York). He settled in Flatbush, Long Island, 
where he was magistrate in 1678-80. There he married 
Teyntje (Catherine), daughter of Yilles (Giles) de Mandeville. 
Her father came from Gelderland in Holland to New Amster- 
dam in 1659, being one of the Huguenots who were so 
numerous among the early immigrants and who by their 
knowledge of textile industries formed so valuable an addition 
to the early settlements in this country. Cornelius Van Der- 
veer and Teyntje his wife had numerous children, among 
them Dominicus, who had several children, one of them being 
Tunis, who was the first of the family to settle in New Jersey 
and was the grandfather of John, spoken of above, and his 
brothers Garrett and Hendrick, all of whom located in the 
Mohawk Valley about 1790. 



4IO The Mohawk Valley 

The New Jersey family must have been exceedingly 
wealthy for those early days of our country, as it is said that 
John Van Derveer, the subject of this sketch, brought with 
him to his Florida farm eighty thousand dollars in cash. 

The land was purchased of one John Watts, a relative of 
the wife of Sir John Johnson. 

John Van Derveer had eight children, five sons and three 
daughters. Of the sons, Garrett was born in 1799, and in- 
herited the homestead farms now occupied by his descendants. 
John, at middle age, moved to Schenectady, where he died a 
few years ago. Cornelius came to the village of Amsterdam, 
and later in life was killed by a premature blast in the eastern 
part of the village, leaving a wife and three children, — J. 
Watts Van Derveer, at one time clerk of the county, Emily, 
who married D. P. Corey, and Helena, who married Harvey 
Kennedy of New York. 

Jennie, the eldest child, married Joseph Stanton, and for 
her second husband, John Sherburne. 

Catharine became the wife of Peter I. Enders. 

Of the daughters, Sarah, married a Serviss, and for her 
second husband, James Greenman. 

Henry Van Derveer married a Miss Conover. He died 
young, and his wife and son soon followed him. 

The possession of so large a sum of money as eighty 
thousand dollars made it very easy for John Van Derveer, 
Sr. to acquire land in his vicinity, and in 1822 he secured 
of Nicholas Vedder a portion of the large tract of land known 
as the Tunis I. Van Derveer estate, being located on the first 
range of hills north of the Mohawk River, opposite to 
the homestead farm. This land was immediately occupied 
by his son, Tunis I. Van Derveer, who continued to add to the 
first purchase as opportunities presented themselves. 



Chapter XXI 
Oriskany 

IN the month of August, 1777, occurred two of the most 
important battles of the Revolution, the results of 
which were finally seen in the surrender at Saratoga 
of General Burgoyne to General Gates and the vic- 
torious Americans, when the campaign, begun with the bom- 
bastic proclamation of the British General, who signed his 
name, " John Burgoyne, Esquire, Lieutenant-General of His 
Majesty's forces in America, Colonel of the Queen's Regiment 
of Light Dragoons, Governor of Fort William in North Britain, 
one of the Commons of Great Britain in Parliament, and com- 
manding an army and fleet on an expedition from Canada, 
etc., etc.," ended in the complete and humiliating defeat of 
that windy gentleman. " I have, " says the proclamation, 
but to give stretch to the Indian forces under my direction, 
and they amount to thousands, to overtake the hardened 
enemies of Great Britain and America. I consider them the 
same where ever they may lurk." The battles I speak of are 
those of Bennington and Oriskany. It was at the battle of 
Bennington that he received the first check to his victorious 
march to Albany through the Champlain Valley, and at 
Oriskany and Fort Schuyler, the turning back of the attend- 
ant expedition to Albany by the way of the Mohawk Valley. 
The plan of the Campaign of Burgoyne was arranged in 
London and provided for a force of four thousand British 
troops and three thousand German, to which were added some 

411 



412 The Mohawk Valley 

Canadians and a body of Indians. An auxiliary force under 
Colonel St. Leger was to leave Montreal for Oswego simul- 
taneous with Burgoyne's expedition through the Champlain 
Valley, and there join a body of Tories under Sir John 
Johnson and Indians under Brant, who were to clear the 
Mohawk Valley and join Burgoyne and General Howe (who 
was to proceed up the Hudson) at Albany. 

In 1758, at the head of boat navigation on the Mohawk 
River, where the village of Rome now stands, was erected 
a fort for the protection of the settlers against the French 
and Indians during the last French War. This was named 
Fort Stanwix; although strongly built it was found to 
be untenable at the beginning of the Revolution, and in 
1776 a new fort was built and named Fort Schuyler in 
honor of General Philip Schuyler. (This name seems to 
have been a favorite one for fortifications. In 1709 a fort was 
erected on the Hudson near Schuylerville, and a little later a 
rude fort was built on the present site of Utica, both of which 
were named for Peter Schuyler. The earlier one was destroyed 
by its builders, and the later, decayed through neglect.) 
Previous to this, a rude stockade fort stood on this site and was 
called Fort Williams from its commandant, a Captain Williams. 
It is spoken of as being well built, having four pieces of 
cannon and garrisoned with one hundred and fifty men. It 
was destroyed by General Webb in 1756 after the fall of 
Oswego. Four miles away on Wood Creek at the western 
end of the carrying-place between said creek and the Mohawk 
River, was another fort named Fort Bull. March 27, 1756, this 
was attacked by a party of French and Indians under Monsieur 
de Lery, the defenders of the fort were massacred, and the 
fort was blown up and burned. It is said that this fort was 
rebuilt about two miles from the present city of Rome and is 
probably the Fort Bute of the Tryon map of 1779. The siege 






THE ORISKANY MONUMENT 



413 



Oriskany 415 

of Fort Schuyler and the attendant battle at Oriskany form 
a theme of never-ending interest to the dwellers of the 
Mohawk Valley, many of whose ancestors were active partici- 
pants in that gruesome engagement. In April, 1777, Colonel 
Peter Gansevoort, of the New York line, was appointed to 
the command of Fort Schuyler, and when he reached the post 
he found the works in an unfinished state and " not only in- 
defensible but untenable." On the 29th of May, Colonel 
Marinus Willett was directed to join the garrison at Fort 
Schuyler with his regiment, and, with the active assistance of 
that officer. Colonel Gansevoort proceeded to put the fort into 
as defensible state as the circumstances would permit without 
knowing the character or strength of the enemy they were 
destined to oppose. The garrison consisted of 950 men, and 
although they had a plentiful supply of ammunition for small 
arms, they had only about four hundred rounds for the can- 
non. In June, information was received from a spy, a 
friendly Oneida half-breed sachem named Thomas Spencer, 
that a body of troops consisting of seven hundred Indians 
under command of Joseph Brant and four hundred regulars 
and six hundred Tories under Sir John Johnson and Colonel 
John Butler, the whole force under command of Colonel St. 
Leger, were to rendezvous at Oswego and from thence pro- 
ceed to the Mohawk Valley with Fort Schuyler as their 
objective point. This information instead of arousing the 
phlegmatic Germans of the upper valley to prompt and effi- 
cient action, seemed to paralyze them with fear. The timid 
became backward in preparing for the field, while the wavering 
became Loyalists, or at the best passive Whigs. To counter- 
act this effect General Herkimer issued a stirring proclamation 
informing the inhabitants of the gathering of the enemy's 
forces at Oswego and calling upon all between the ages of 
sixteen and sixty to hold themselves in readiness to repair to 



41 6 The Mohawk Valley 

the field, while the invalids and those over sixty years of age 
were directed to arm themselves for the defence of the women 
and children, and for the protection of their homes. The dis- 
affected were also ordered to be arrested and disarmed. The 
appeal was not without its effect, and the militia and the 
people, stimulated by the near approach of danger, moved 
with a degree of alacrity which contrasted strongly with their 
former apathy. 

On the 3d of August, Colonel St. Leger arrived before the 
fort with his whole force of blatant Tories and howling sav- 
ages, and a pompous demand was sent to Colonel Gansevoort 
which dealt liberally in threats of vengeance to those who 
refused to recognize the King and submit to his authority. 
No notice being paid the demand, hostilities commenced on 
the morning of the 4th of August. St. Leger at this juncture 
sent a despatch to General Burgoyne expressing his assurance 
that Fort Schuyler would be in his possession directly, and 
the hope that they would meet as victors at Albany. 

An interesting episode is connected with this siege which 
I think is not generally known. On the 14th of June, 1777, 
Congress ordained that the flag of the thirteen United States 
should be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, and that the 
union be thirteen white stars on a blue field. In August, 
1777, Fort Schuyler was without a flag when the enemy ap- 
peared, but their pride and ingenuity were equal to the occa- 
sion. The white stripes were made from strips cut from 
shirts, the red from bits of scarlet cloth, and the blue ground 
for the stars, from a cloak belonging to Captain Abraham 
Swartout, of Dutchess County. This is thought to have been 
the first flag of the regulation stars and stripes that was raised 
above a fort in the United States. 

The arrival of St. Leger at Fort Schuyler soon became 
known throughout the Mohawk Valley, and General Herki- 



Oriskany 417 

mer summoned the inhabitants in accordance with his pro- 
clamation. They nobly responded; not only the militia, but 
the gentlemen of the county and members of the Committee 
of Safety hastened to Fort Dayton, now Herkimer, and on 
the 5th day of August, when the Indians invested Fort 
Schuyler and by their hideous yells attempted to intimidate 
the garrison, Herkimer was at Whitestown, eight miles from 
the fort, with eight hundred undisciplined but brave and 
enthusiastic troops eager to face the enemy, having crossed to 
the south side of the Mohawk at old Fort Schuyler (Utica). 

While the party remained at that place General Herkimer 
sent Adam Helmer and two trusty men to apprise Colonel 
Gansevoort of his approach and concert measures of co-opera- 
tion. Three successive discharges of cannon were to announce 
the arrival of the couriers, which he knew could be plainly 
heard at the encampment. Having experienced considerable 
difificulty in approaching the fort, Adam. Helmer end not suc- 
ceed in entering until ten o'clock on the morning of the 6th. 
The signal guns were immediately fired, and, as the message 
of General Herkimer intimated his intention to force a pass- 
age to the fort, a sortie was immediately arranged for the 
purpose of diverting the attention of the enemy. 

On the 4th, when Herkimer and his troops left Fort Day- 
ton, Thomas Spencer, the faithful Oneida, was with him. 
Noticing the impetuosity of the men and the total disregard 
to all order of marching, without reconnoitering or throwing 
out flanking parties, he insisted upon these precautionary 
measures being adopted, in which he was joined by General 
Herkimer and some of the older ofificers. The junior of^cers 
ridiculed the idea and General Herkimer, contrary to his own 
judgment, did not enforce the order. 

On the morning of the 6th. a renewal of these scenes took 
place in Herkimer's camp. With the same caution which the 



41 8 The Mohawk Valley 

General had previously manifested, he desired to remain 
where he was until some evidence was received that a move- 
ment from the fort had been made. The new-born zeal of his 
junior of^cers revolted at the idea, and angry words ensued, in 
which the brave but cautious old man was denounced by 
Colonels Cox and Paris as a coward and a Tory, This bitter 
taunt sank deep into his heart, but he answered calmly, " I 
am placed over you as a father and guardian, and I will not 
lead you into difficulties from which I may not be able to 
extricate you," There was a brief interchange of further hot 
words between the General, Colonel Bellinger, and John Frey 
on one side, and the mutinous colonels and men on the other, 
while the old man stood defiant, with chin raised and dark 
blazing eyes. The confusion became unbearable and the 
shouts of " Lead on! Lead on!" from the crowd more 
vehement. Suddenly Herkimer sprang upon a log, too much 
incensed to control himself and cried, " If you will have it so, 
the blood be upon your heads." Waving his sword, he 
shouted in a voice all the eight hundred could hear, " Vor- 
warts!" Instantly, with exultant cheers, the men rushed for 
their arms, officers their horses, and the teamsters the baggage 
train, everyone eager to reach the enemy without regard to 
their order of going. Through the efforts of the General the 
four regiments were brought into a semblance of order, with 
Colonel Visscher and the Caughnawaga company in the rear 
as guard of the ammunition and supply wagons, and so, 
marching swiftly and without scouts, at nine in the morning 
they started forth. 

Information of the approach of General Herkimer having 
reached Colonel St. Leger on the evening of the 5th, and the 
latter preferring to receive him in the field rather than in his 
camp, detached eighty men of Sir John Johnson's Royal Greens, 
under Major Watts, Sir John's brother-in-law, and the entire 



Oriskany 419 

body of Indians under Joseph Brant, the whole under com- 
mand of Sir John Johnson, to intercept his approach. It ap- 
pears that the influence of Brant prevailed, and that it was 
determined to draw the Americans into an ambuscade. For 
this purpose, with a sagacity which does even that remarkable 
man great credit, a position was selected which was admirably 
adapted for his purpose about two miles west from Oriskany 
and six from Whitesboro. At this place were two short ravines 
running from south to north both opening to the north and 
separated by a level plateau of perhaps ten acres about fifty 
feet above the bottom of the ravines. This plateau gradually 
narrowed to a rounded point as the ravines opened out and 
gradually merged into the swampy flats that stretch north to 
the Mohawk River three-quarters of a mile away. The 
westernmost ravine was the rendezvous of the British troops, 
who were stationed along its upper eastern edge, effectually 
concealed by its fringe of low trees and bushes. The Indians 
rapidly took their positions around the south, north, and 
eastern edge of the easterly ravine, nearly enclosing it except 
where the rude road of logs (constructed earlier in the year by 
Colonel Gansevoort for easier carriage of cannon and supplies 
for Fort Schuyler, six miles away) ran down and over the 
swampy bottom of the fatal ravine. All around were trees 
and low bushes and the attendant rotting logs and tree trunks, 
while tangled masses of dead branches and underbrush bor- 
dered each side of the rough road that stretched out east and 
west until lost in the gloom of the forest, while the swampy 
flats, dimly seen through the mouth of the ravine, were 
covered with tall swamp grass and the long, flat leaves of cat- 
tail and calamus, with here and there a scrub pine or willow, 
making a treacherous concealment for the naked savages. 
Occasionally a group of pond lilies and other aquatic flowers 
added color and beauty to the diversified landscape. 



420 The Mohawk Valley 

Meanwhile General Herkimer had moved on from the 
mouth of Oriskany Creek entirely unconscious of the ambus- 
cade two miles away. Their route lay along the firm lowlands 
for about a mile, the road gradually bearing to the south and 
up the low forest-covered hills that led to the fatal ravine. 
The morning was dark, sultry, and lowering, and the mutter- 
ing of distant thunder was in the air, unheeded or unnoticed 
by the troops whose minds were intent upon reaching the fort. 

The Canajoharie regiment, with General Herkimer and 
Colonels Cox and Paris in the van, was the first to reach the 
eastern edge of the slope down which the corduroy road ran 
to the marshy bottom of the ravine. 

The general and the colonels spoken of above seem to 
have been at the head of the troops down this rough road, 
followed in a joyous and rollicking manner by three regiments 
and the baggage train. The van had nearly reached the top 
of the western slope and the balance of the troops were 
huddled together at the narrow crossing, and the baggage 
train was waiting for an opportunity to cross. Colonel Viss- 
cher with the Caughnawaga company was yet on the top of 
the hill waiting for the bridge or ford to become cleared 
before descending. Those on the other side were looking 
back to see the wagon making its way down the hill. Colonel 
Cox was giving an order to those below when the report of a 
rifle was heard and Colonel Cox fell headlong upon the neck 
of his horse, which turned and at a mad gallop dashed down 
the slope and into the startled crowd at the ford. Instantly, 
as though the rifle shot had been a signal for action, swarms 
of red devils dashed upon the Visscher company, firing and 
yelling as if in hellish delight, separating them from the 
troops below, and fairly overwhelming them with superior 
numbers, at the same time completing the cordon that was 
drawn around the doomed Americans in the v'alley below, 




1 








NO. 1. — URlbKANV BATTLt-MKLD, KA.Sl SIDK nF RAVINE. 
Herkimer's troops were massed at the Log Road through the swamp. Swamp in the 

foreground. 



42 T 



Oriskany 423 

while from every tree and bush rang out the report of rifle and 
the war-cry of the Indians. 

Then ensued a scene of direst confusion, as the troops at 
the crossing realized that they were completely surrounded by 
hordes of naked, painted, savage devils, with apparently no 
avenue of escape. At the first discharge many had been killed 
while others, wounded, had fallen into the slimy marsh either 
to be drowned or to receive the death stroke by hatchet or 
knife from the foe who became bold at the evidently helpless 
situation of the soldiers. 

To return a moment to Colonel Visscher and part of the 
Caughnawaga company who had become separated from the 
main body of troops. Finding themselves assailed on three 
sides the company rapidly retreated, firing as they went, be- 
hind tree and bush in true backwoodsmen fashion, drawing 
the Indians after them, who were intent upon their death or 
capture and neglecting for the time being their duty on the 
hilltop in their frenzied pursuit. 

General Herkimer, although taken by surprise, seems to 
have risen equal to the occasion. Urging his horse down the 
hill slope, with energetic efforts he succeeded in pulling the 
troops who had already crossed up to the level plateau where 
they were met by the fire of Sir John Johnson's Rangers in 
front, along the top of the second ravine, and the fire of the 
Indians concealed on both flanks. Noticing that the fire from 
along the eastern slope of the ravine was thin and somewhat 
irregular, he ordered Colonel Bellinger and the soldiers who 
had not yet crossed the causeway to retake the hill. Dashing 
through the hail of lead on both flanks the stalwart Palatine 
Germans stormed the hillside firing to kill as they went and 
then meeting their antagonists with the swinging blows of 
clubbed muskets. Regaining the hilltop, they formed them- 
selves into circular squads, leaving the bottom of the fatal 



424 The Mohawk Valley 

ravine to the dead and dying, and the occasional prowling 
painted savage with ready knife searching for scalps and 
plunder. 

It was at the time that Herkimer had succeeded in getting 
the regiment in some sort of order on the plateau that he 
received the bullet through his leg which at the same time 
killed his horse. He was taken up and carried up the slope 
to the plateau and placed upon his saddle at the foot of a 
large beech tree, where, having lighted his pipe he sat and 
continued to order the battle with the utmost firmness and 
composure until the enemy retreated. For three-quarters of 
an hour the contest continued with fury on both sides. At 
that time the enemy began to concentrate his forces and by 
slow degrees to close upon the Americans from all points of 
the circle. Noticing this movement the Americans on the 
plateau formed themselves into circles and their resistance 
from that moment became more effective. To counteract it, 
the fire of the Tories was discontinued and the enemy charged 
with the bayonet; and then more than ever before the contest 
became a death struggle, hand to hand and foot to foot. 
Never did brave men stand a charge with more dauntless 
courage, and the enemy made no impression. 

At this moment a blinding flash followed by a crashing 
peal of heaven's artillery burst upon the ears of the combat- 
ants. Attent upon the battle, the approach of the thunder 
storm had been unnoticed until it burst upon them with in- 
conceivable fury. The roaring wind, the swaying of the tree 
tops, and the sudden downpour of rain arrested the work 
of death and drove both Indians and whites to seek shelter 
under trees and bushes. For nearly an hour rain fell in 
torrents; but even the vivid lightning, the furious wind, the 
rolling thunder, and the crashing of falling trees, did not pre- 
vent the Americans from making preparations to renew the 



Oriskany 425 

deadly struggle. The wounded bound up their wounds, every 
musket was carefully loaded and protected from the rain, each 
soldier refreshed himself with water and food, and waited 
impatiently for the cessation of the storm. 

General Herkimer had formed the Americans farther up 
the plateau towards the south and had succeeded in with- 
drawing the troops under Colonel Bellinger and Captain Jacob 
Gardinier from the east side of the ravine. Formed into a 
circle, each man protected by tree or log, they were ordered 
to adopt a new mode of bush-fighting to counteract the opera- 
tions of the Indians, who, as soon as they saw a gun dis- 
charged from behind a tree rushed upon and tomahawked the 
marksman before he had time to reload. To prevent this. 
General Herkimer ordered two men to take each tree, one to 
fire at a time and the other to reserve his fire for the Indian 
who might seek their scalps. 

In imagination I can see the bluff, rugged old man, whose 
tawny Saxon hair veils the silver-gray locks that would be a 
fitting crown for his years of life. His angular form and 
hardened muscles indicate laborious toil and exposure, while 
the slow, automatic movements of his limbs are those acquired 
by following the plough or picking his way over broken farm- 
land. On his bronzed, careworn face is a look of pain, but his 
firm, eager eyes scan every movement of his beleaguered 
troops and the red-skinned enemy. His commands are given 
sharp and short, like the quick blue puffs of smoke from his 
short black clay pipe. 

It is pleasant to note that, however rebellious his impetu- 
ous men appeared on the march, his orders are now obeyed 
with the utmost confidence in the judgment and loyalty of 
their much-abused leader. 

His buff-faced blue coat and vest, are disordered and 
blood-stained, and his wounded leg nearly bare, bound with 



426 The Mohawk Valley 

a red silk handkerchief, while his neck and breast are uncovered 
to the hot, sultry air. 

The storm at length passed over, and amidst one of the 
most intensely hot days the battle was renewed with increas- 
ing fury. The new position of the Americans, and the new 
system of bush-fighting, however, soon produced their legiti- 
mate results, and the Indians suffered severely, so much so, 
indeed, that they began to show signs of uneasiness, and 
Major Watts moved forward a second detachment of Royal 
Greens, which had been sent out by Colonel St. Leger, to sup- 
port them. These men w^ere Tories, many or nearly all of 
them from Tryon County and former neighbors of the men 
they were marching against, and as they advanced so near as 
to afford mutual recognition, the contest became if possible 
more terrible than before. Mutual revenge and hate raged in 
their bosoms. The Americans fired upon them as they ad- 
vanced, and then springing from their covers attacked them 
with bayonets and clubbed muskets, or in some cases with 
knife or bare hands, throttling and stabbing each other, and 
sometimes dying in each other's embrace. It was at this 
time that the signal guns were heard from the fort, — an evi- 
dence to the Americans of the sortie asked for by General 
Herkimer^ — and anxious to close the engagement Colonel 
Butler executed a stratagem that nearly accomplished that 
object. He so changed the dress of a detachment of Royal 
Greens that they resem.bled Americans, using the hats of the 
dead patriots for the purpose. These men were made to ap- 
proach from the direction of the fort and were at first mis- 
taken for reinforcements from the garrison. Directly in their 
path was Captain Jacob Gardinier and some of his Caughna- 
waga men. The burly captain, his only weapons his knife 
and short spear, was fighting with a group of Tories and 
Indians, while around him lay four of the enemy slain by his 




•'H 









Oriskany 429 

hand. His experienced eye discovered the real character of 
the approaching masquerade and ordering his men to fire upon 
them and rushing upon them himself, followed by some of his 
men, upwards of thirty of the Tories were slain and the 
remainder fled in disorder The Indians perceiving with 
what order the Americans opposed the enemy, tired and sulky 
after six hours furious fighting, raised the retreating cry of 
" Oonah ' Oonah ! " and fled in every direction, while the 
Tories, perceiving that their allies had deserted them, also 
retreated, leaving the Tryon County militia and volunteers 
masters of the field. 

After the action General Herkimer was taken to his own 
house, which is still standing, about three miles east of Little 
Falls on the south bank of the Mohawk River, where his leg 
was amputated nine days after the battle. It is said to have 
been done in the most unskilful manner, the leg having been 
cut off square, without allowing flesh enough below the bone 
to form the proper flaps to cover the wound, whereby the flow 
of blood was with difficulty stanched. Colonel Willet called 
to see him soon after the operation and found him sitting up 
in his bed, as cheerful as usual, smoking his pipe. Hemorrhage 
ensued and toward evening the General became convinced 
that his end was near. He called for his Bible and read com- 
posedly in the presence of his family and others the thirty- 
eighth psalm, applying the penitential confessions to his own 
case. His voice gradually grew weaker, the book slipped from 
his nerveless fingers, and sinking back on his pillow General 
Herkimer, a Christian hero, died. 

A description of the Mohawk Valley in 1757 is found in 
the documentary history of New York. 

The writer starts from Chouegen (Oswego) and follows the 
Oswego and Oneida rivers to Oneida Lake thence through the 
lake to Wood Creek which he ascends to Fort Bull and 



430 The Mohawk Valley 

thence across the carrying-place to Fort Williams (Rome) on 
the Mohawk River. Sailing, or rather, poling, down the river 
he reaches Fort Kouari (Fort Herkimer) on the right or south 
bank of the river. This fort is thus described : 

It is a large three story stone building with port holes at each 
story and likewise in the basement for cross firing. There are some 
small pieces above. The house is covered with plank and shingles. 
It is built as a store and depot for Cheouegn (Oswego). It is sur- 
rounded by a ditch at a distance of about thirty feet. This ditch is 
six feet deep and seven feet wide. The crown of the ditch is 
planted with palisades in an oblique form, behind these there is a 
parapet of earth so as to be able to fire over the palisades. The 
four angles of this parapet which is at the back of the ditch, form 
as it were four little bastions that reciprocally flank each other. 
On the west side is a house apart from the large one. It backs 
against the parapet of the palisades, and serves as a barrack and 
guard house. There are two doors to the large building, the one 
on the north is a small swing door. The large door of the house 
is on the south side. Opposite this fort is a small cultivated island 
which can be reached at low water by fording. 

From Fort Kouari to Fort Canajoharie (Indian Castle) is 
four leagues. The inhabitants of this country are Palatines or 
Germans. Fort Canajoharie is situated on the south side of 
the Mohawk River. It is a square of four bastions of upright 
pickets joined with lintels. They are fifteen feet high, about 
one foot square, with port holes inserted from distance to dis- 
tance, with a stage all round to fire from. The fort is one 
hundred paces on each side. It is not surrounded by a ditch. 
There are some small pieces of cannon at each of its bastions 
and a house at each curtain to serve as a store and barrack. 
Five or six families of Mohawk Indians reside outside the fort. 
(This fort was built in 1756 by Sir William Johnson. Pre- 
vious to that time there was a block house situated on a hill 
on the opposite side of the creek. Indian Castle was the 
home of Joseph Brant and King Hendrick, and Molly Brant 



Oriskany 43 1 

after Sir William Johnson's death until the flight of the 
Mohawks to Canada. It is said that Molly Brant furnished 
her brother with valuable information in regard to General 
Herkimer's movements previous to the battle of Oriskany. 

The distance from the above fort to Fort Hunter is about 
twelve leagues. About one hundred houses at a greater or 
less distance are found within this length of road. There are 
some situated about half a league in the interior. The in- 
habitants of this section compose a militia company of one 
hundred men. Fort Hunter is situated on the border of the 
Mohawk River and is of the same form as that of Canajoharie, 
with the exception that it is twice as large. There is a 
church or temple in the middle of the fort (Queen Anne's 
Chapel). 

From Fort Hunter to Chenectadi, or Corlear, is seven 
leagues, and twenty or thirty houses are found within this 
■distance. The inhabitants of this section are Dutch. They 
form a company with some others on the left bank, about one 
hundred strong. 

Chenectadi or Corlear is situated on the bank of the river 
and is a village of about three hundred houses. 

From Chenectadi to Orange (Albany) is estimated to be 
six or seven leagues. This is all that relates to the right or 
south bank of the Mohawk. 

Besrinning again at Fort Williams, Rome, the record 
describes the country along the left or north bank of the 
Mohawk: Leaving Fort Williams, the village of the Palatines 
is estimated to be twelve leagues. (All the country between 
Little Falls and Rome, on both sides of the Mohawk, was 
known as the German Flats and was the home of most of the 
Palatines that moved from Schoharie Valley in 1722. The 
Palatine village was known as " German Flats," and was 
situated about a half-mile above Fort Kouari on the opposite 



432 The Mohawk Valley 

bank, now known as Herkimer. During the Revolution a fort 
was built at Herkimer and called Fort Dayton.) 

In 1757 the Palatine village, which consisted of thirty 
houses, was destroyed and burnt by a detachment of about 
three hundred Indians and Frenchmen under M. de Bellestre. 
The inhabitants of this village formed a company of one hun- 
dred men bearing arms. Total population about three hundred 
men, women, and children, one hundred and two of whom 
were made prisoners, and the remainder fled to Fort Kouari, 
except a few who were killed while fording the river. 

From Palatine village to the Little Falls, still continuing 
on the left bank of the Mohawk, is estimated about three 
leagues. In this distance, there are but eight houses, which 
have been abandoned. The portage at Little Falls is a quar- 
ter of a league and is passed with carts. 

From the portage to Colonel Johnson's mansion is twelve 
leagues. In the whole of this distance the soil is good. 
About five hundred houses are erected at a distance one from 
the other. The greater number of those on the bank of the 
river are built of stone. Those at a greater distance from the 
fiver in the interior are about half a league off; they are 
the new settlements and are built of wood. 

(Two of these old stone buildings are still to be seen from 
New York Central trains north of the track, the Ehle house, 
east of Fort Plain, built in 1752, and the Frey house, west of 
Palatine Bridge, built in 1739.) 

There is not a fort in the whole distance of twelve leagues. 
There is but one house, built of stone, that is somewhat forti- 
fied and surrounded with pickets (the Frey house). The 
inhabitants are Germans. They form four companies of one 
hundred men each. 

Colonel Johnson's mansion is situate on the border of the 
left bank of the Mohawk River; it is three stories high (two 




THE OLD PULPIT IN THE CHURCH AT GERMAN FLATS. 



28 



433 



Oriskany 435 

stories and attic), built of stone with port-holes and a parapet, 
and flanked with four bastions on which are some small guns. 
In the same yard on both sides of the mansion, there are two 
small houses; that on the right of the entrance is a store, and 
that on the left is designed for workmen, negroes, and other 
domestics. The yard gate is a heavy swing gate well ironed ; 
it is on the Mohawk River side; from this gate to the river 
there is about two hundred paces of level ground, (It is said 
that the buildings were enclosed in a stockade during the 
French war.) A small rivulet coming from the north empties 
itself into the Mohawk about two hundred paces below the 
enclosure of the yard. (The Kayaderos Creek, said to 
have given the name to the famous patent.) On this stream 
there is a mill about fifty paces distant from the house, below 
is the miller's house, and on the other side of the creek one 
hundred paces from the mill is a barn in which fodder and 
cattle are kept. One hundred and fifty paces from Colonel 
Johnson's mansion at the north side, on the left (east) bank 
of the little creek, is a little hill on which is a small house with 
port-holes where is ordinarily kept a guard of honor of some 
twenty men, which serves also as an advance post. 

From Colonel Johnson's house to Chenectadi is counted as 
seven leagues. The road is good, all sorts of vehicles pass 
over it. About twenty houses are found from point to point 
on this road. 

The Mohawk River can be forded during summer a league 
and a quarter west of Chenectadi. Opposite Chenectadi the 
traverse is usually by a ferry-boat and bateaux. 

Going from Chenectadi to the mouth of the Mohawk River 
where it discharges into the Orange (Hudson), there is a 
Great Fall (Cohoes), which prevents the passage of bateaux, so 
that everything on the river going from Chenectadi to Orange 
(Albany) passes over the highroad that leads there direct. 



436 The Mohawk Valley 

In the whole country of the river Corlear (Mohawk) there were 
nine companies of militia under command of Colonel Johnson; 
eight only remain, that of the village of the Palatines being no longer 
in existence, the greater portion having been defeated by M. de 
Bellestre's detachment. 

Colonel Johnson assembles these companies when he has news 
of any expedition which may concern the Mohawk River. 

In the latter part of April, 1757, on receiving intelligence by the 
savages that there was a strong detachment ascending the river St. 
Lawrence and entering Lake Ontario, he assembled these companies 
and went to the village of the Palatines where he was joined by 
another body of twelve hundred men sent him by the commandant 
of Orange; this formed in all a force of two thousand men. He 
intrenched himself at the head of the Palatine village where he 
remained in camp fifteen days, and did not retire until he received 
intelligence that the French detachment seen on the St. Lawrence 
River, had passed by cud taken the route to Belle Riviere (Ohio). 

In 1900, a century and a half after the above record was 
made, in company with Prof. J. A. Maney, I traversed the 
same section of the Mohawk, not by bateaux and rude carts, 
but by railroad, in true nineteenth-century style. The objec- 
tive point was Rome, in search of data in relation to the 
battle of Oriskany and the siege of Fort Schuyler. We 
did not succeed in finding any evidence of the fort, in fact, we 
had some difficulty in finding any one that had ever heard 
of it. We were finally, however, directed to its site, in 
the centre of the city and near the border of the Mohawk 
River. Nothing remains to mark the spot of that heroic re- 
sistance of a handful of sturdy pioneers who by their valor 
turned back to Canada the hordes of savages and Tories 
under St. Leger, Sir John Johnson, Butler, and Joseph Brant, 
and thereby assisted materially in defeating the plans of Gen- 
eral Burgoyne, and thus led to the surrender of the British 
troops at Saratoga. 

A glance at the map of New York State will show that the 



Oriskany 439 

Mohawk River rises just over the border of Lewis County in 
the town of Lewis and under the shadow of Mohawk Hill. 
Although flowing in a southerly direction until it reaches the 
vicinity of Rome, like many a mountain stream with its 
numerous curves it seems to flow in the direction of every 
point of the compass. West of Rome is a small stream run- 
ning parallel with the Mohawk called Wood Creek, distant 
from the said river about two miles. The slight elevation of 
land between, however, is sufficient to turn the waters of 
Wood Creek and Oneida Lake and through Oswego River to 
Lake Ontario, and thence to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The 
Mohawk bending to the east finally reaches the Atlantic 
Ocean through the Hudson River and New York Bay. 

There were two routes for the Indians in their birchen 
canoes to the Mohawk Valley, one by the way of Lake 
Champlain and Lake George, and the other up the St. Law- 
rence and around the east coast of Lake Ontario to Oswego 
River, thence up the river and Oneida Lake to the mouth of one 
of its small tributaries, Wood Creek, thence up Wood Creek 
to a point two miles from the present site of the city of Rome 
where the canoes were carried across the divide to the 
Mohawk River, and thence down to the Hudson. 

When the Dutch established themselves in the lower Mo- 
hawk Valley, hunters and traders, the coiirreiir dc bois of the 
Dutch, used the Mohawk River and the Indian canoe to pen- 
etrate to the home of the Iroquois in quest of game and furs. 

As the valley became settled by venturesome resident 
traders, supplies were transported to them in canoes or flat- 
boats which on their return brought peltries, potash, and the 
produce of their limited acres. 

Niagara or Onjagara, as it was called by the Iroquois, early 
became an important trading post with the farther Indians 
both to the English and French, and the establishment of a 



440 The Mohawk Valley- 

post at Irondequet, and the building of a fort at Chouegen 
(Oswego) in 1725 called for improvements in the mode of 
navigating the Mohawk. Flat-boats called bateaux were 
constructed, and propelled by paddles, poles, and sail. But it 
was not until 1792 that the Inland Lock and Navigation Com- 
pany made any decided improvements in the river bed and 
carrying-places. At that time the channel was deepened, 
canals dug at Little Falls, and across the carry between Wood 
Creek and the Mohawk River. I have often thought that 
this work was probably the incentive to Governor Clinton to 
build his " big ditch " a quarter of a century later. 

After this long digression, we will continue our journey 
from Rome, eastward. 

From the very start we found difificulty in tracing the 
channel of the river from the windows of the car. For 
forty-five miles the river runs its tortuous, erratic course, 
marked by its borders of low willows and occasional majestic 
elms, through the German Flats, or, until it reaches the 
vicinity of Herkimer. We were impressed with the uniform 
width of its channel, which has the appearance of the Erie 
Canal before it was enlarged. In fact its channel through the 
German Flats seems to retain evidence of work done by the 
Inland Lock and Navigation Company For a number of 
miles we have been steaming along the south bank of the river, 
but a short distance east of Utica we cross to the north side 
and so continue on to our journey's end. (This is probably 
the place where Herkimer crossed the Mohawk with his troops 
en route for Fort Schuyler.) 

A little earlier in the day we had left the New York 
Central at Oriskany, en route to the battle-field and the scene 
of the fatal ambuscade. A hurried departure from Rome 
obliged us to leave the table at the Stanwix before dinner was 
served, and although our ruffled tempers were somewhat 



Oriskany 443 

smoothed by the hurried eating of a sandwich hurriedly made, 
we still felt the need of victuals and drink. Although this 
quiet little village with its famous battle-field along its borders 
could not supply us with all that we desired, we however suc- 
ceeded at last in securing a vehicle for our two miles' ride 
over the hills to the fatal ravine, and, with the sheriff of 
Oneida as our guide and factotum, and with the rattle of 
wagon spokes that kept time to the beat of the horses' hoofs, 
followed nearly the same route as Herkimer and his impetu- 
ous soldiers. The weather was all that could be desired, but 
the landscape view was not very inspiring as we were at 
least a mile away from the range of low hills that mark the 
north boundary of the valley and the only evidence of the 
Mohawk River was a line of low bushes about three-quarters 
of a mile away, while apparently limitless miles of flat land 
seemed to stretch away east and west. 

But it was the ravine that was the object of our pilgrim- 
age. As we neared the spot, the tall granite monument, 
eighty feet high, erected by the Oneida County Historical 
Society in 1876, met our sight and marked the spot we were 
in search of. A few minutes more and the ravine, the adja- 
cent hills, and the fatal morass were before us. 

At present the ravine is spanned by a causeway over which 
passes the main road from Utica to Rome. A narrow arch of 
stone under the causeway forms a passage for the small creek 
that produces the morass and swampy flats to the north, A 
narrow ditch now confines the stream and makes comparatively 
dry the spot at the bottom of the ravine where the corduroy 
road formerly crossed, although the western slope half-way to 
the top, still gives evidence of the marshy character of the soil. 

Accompanying this sketch are photographs of this historic 
spot, which I trust will enable the reader to comprehend the 
locality of the battle-field. View No. i shows the eastern hill 



444 The Mohawk Valley 

and slope to the rivulet belov\% which is seen at the lower 
right-hand corner. On each side of the rivulet is still seen 
portions of the old log road, which marks the spot where the 
slaughter of the American troops was the greatest, as they 
were massed near the only crossing that led through the morass. 
See also view No. 2. At the time of the attack all of 
the troops except Colonel Visscher's Caughnawaga regiment 
were in the hollow and climbing the western slope, shown in 
view No. 3. The baggage wagons were yet toiling down the 
eastern slope and Visscher's men were massed where the farm 
buildings are seen at the top of the hill. Both hills were covered 
with tall pines, oaks, and maples while the bottom of this little 
valley was covered with low trees, bushes, and swamp grass. 

At the present time these hills and the surrounding country 
are entirely cleared of the forest, and cultivated land is seen 
in every direction. Even the field where the great struggle 
and subsequent victory took place is now occupied by a 
thrifty potato patch. 

On the eastern plateau is the Battle Monument and in the 
centre of the photograph, on the horizon line is a black mark 
that looks like a crooked ten-penny nail. This is a picture 
of the writer, marking the spot where formerly stood the tree 
under which the wounded General sat directing the battle. 
No. 4 is a closer view of the monument, and one of the group 
at its base is pointing out the fatal ravine to a party of visitors 
who were born and brought up at the old village of Whites- 
town, six miles away, but were ignorant of the circumstances 
of the battle or the points of interest that surrounded us. 
This is not at all singular, but is only another evidence of the 
all-absorbing spirit of the twentieth century, — the living for 
the present and the temporal care for the future, and the will- 
ingness to leave the past to aged dreamers whose only 
pleasures, alas, may be the dreams of earlier days. 



INDEX 



A 



Abeel, John, 134 

Abenakas, 4, 1 82 

Abraham, Indian, 311 ; Speech of, 312 

Academy, Old, 285 

Achawi, 103, roy-iii 

Adams, Sheriff, 82 

Adams, Dr. William, 194 

Adirondacks, 14 

Adler, Isaac, 287 

Adriochten, 22, 24, 26 

Adriuche, 24, 27, 33, 37, lOO, 155, 156 

Adriutha, 24, 27, 354 

Adriutha Falls, 355, 356, 358, 359 

Agassiz, Prof. Louis, 363 

Agnierrhonons, 5 

Agniers, Agnierrhonons, 5, 14, 41, 193 

Akin, 133 

Akin, Ethan, 137, 145 

Akin, Theron, 145 

Albany, 2, 4, rg, 20, 24, 28, 37, 50. 58, 

82, 85-87, 99, 114, 122, 134, 159, 

172, 185, 193, 416 
Algonquins, 4, 5, 14, 41, 46, 47, 100, 

13S, 275 
Alleforce, 2 

Allen, James, 283, 284, 287, 288 
Allen, John P., 284 
AUet, Walter, 175 
Amsterdam, Holland, 20 
Amsterdam, N. Y., 24, 28, 29, 54, 92, 

107, 113, 123, 128, 131, 150, 154, 

167, 175, 194, 26S, 275, 276, 279, 

280, 282-284, 305, 310, 321, 328-330, 

359, 390, 400, 405 
Anansira, 22 
Andagaron, 44 
Andastes, 4 

Andrews, Rev. William, 85, 86 
Annapolis, 3 
Anormee Berge, 3 
Anthony's Nose, 225, 378, 381 
Anticosta Island, 12 
Aquaduct at Little Falls, 374 
Arnold, Gen. Benedict, 221, 290, 325, 

327 



Arnold, Elisha, 290 

Arnold, William H., 337 

Ashton, Rev. R., 94, 97 

Auriesville, 24, 34, 37, 40, 49, 304, 390 



Babbington Patent, 300 

Bachelor, Zephaniah 194 

Bachelors, "Sale of Old," 154 

Ballestre, M. de, 432 

Balston, 100 

Barclay, Rev. Henry, 113, 309 

Barclay, Rev. Thomas, 70, 85, 86 

Barre, La Fevre de, 99 

Battle, Champlain's, 17 

Battle Monument, 442 

Bay of Quinte, 94, 97, 273 

Bayard, Henry, 137, 138 

Beacraft, Benj., 175, 176, 179 

Bean Hill, 401 

Beauchamp, Rev. W. M., 9, 11 

Beaver Dam Creek, 325 

Beers's History of Montgomery County, 

405 
Bell, Mrs. James, 
Belle Riviere, 436 
Bellinger, Col. Peter, 418, 423, 425 
Beukendaal, 65, 66 
Biard, Pierre, 3, 38 
Birch, Alfred, 288 
Black Horse Tavern, 209, 254 
Blaine, James (i., 291 
Bleeker, John R., 400 
Blood Farm, 280 
Bloody Pond, 261 
Bolton, Lieut. -Colonel, 213 
Bovee, Matthew, 290 
Boyd, Lieut., 226, 227 
Boulevard Hotel, 122 
Bradt House, 72, 73 
Bradt, Nicholas, 284 
Brakencourt, Baron de, 108 
Brant, Capt. Joseph, 94, 118, 175, iSo, 

19S, 202, 220, 221, 227, 228, 259, 

260, 273, 376, 382, 389, 412, 415, 

419, 430, 436 



445 



446 



Index 



Brant Church, 3S8 

Brant, Molly, 114, iiS, 121, 122, 133, 

145, 202, 430, 431 
Brantford, 94, 97 
Bratt (Bradt), Abraham N., 54 
Breadalliane, Earl of, 232 
Brebeuf, Jean de, 3S-40 
Breton fishermen, i 
Breton fort, 2 
Broadalbin (Breadalbane), 232, 276, 

279 
Brock way, Ephraim, 406 
Bronk, Jonas, 20 
Bronson Flats, 167, 175 
Bronson, George W. J., 295 
Bronson, Osias, 290, 294, 295 
Brower, H. T. E., 1S6 
Bruyas, Jacques, 344 
Bull, Fort, 412 

Burial-ground at Wemples, 306 
Burgoyne, Gen. John, 411, 412, 416, 

436 
Burke, Joe, 153 
Burnett, Governor, 212 
Burtonville, 2S0 
Bute, Fort, 412 
Butler, John, 185, 186, 189, 19S, 211- 

214, 219, 220, 227, 228, 262, 415, 

426, 436 
Butler mansion, 181, 186, iSS, 191,211 
Butler, Maria, 219, 300 
Butler Patent, 194 
Butler, Thomas, 311 
Butler, Lieut. Walter, Jr., 186, 1S9, 

296, 300 
Butler, Walter N., 122, 211-213. 21S- 

222, 225, 226, 228, 266, 268, 300 
Butler, Walter, Sr., 186, 189, 212, 218, 

219 
Butler's Ford, 226 
Buttermilk Falls, 355, 356 



C 



Cady, Daniel, 297, 406 

Cady, Judge David, 406 

Cady, Elisha, 406 

Cahaniaga, 34, 193, 344 

Caldwell, James, 137 

Camberfort, Geraldus, 155, 156, 159, 

275 
Campbell, Roljert, 325 
Campbell, Thomas, 272, 273 
Campliell, William, 218, 221, 225 
Campbells of Argyle, 232 
Canada, 14, 20, 46 
Canagera, 23, 29, 37, 298, 304, 310 
Canajoharie, 222, 225, 259, 266, 352, 

376, 386 



Canajoharie Castle, 133, 159 

Canajoharie, Fort, 430, 431 

Canajoharie Regiment, 420 

Canajorha, 376, 382, 3S5 

Canajorhees, 3S2, 385, 390 

Canoaroda, 23, 28, 29 

Canowha, 28 

Carenay, 29, 30, 33 

Carriboga, 260 

Cartier, Jacques, i, 5, ir-14, 38, 232 

Caughnawaga, 133, 194, 276, 279, 282, 

2S3, 321,' 345. 346, 349, 353, 399, 

404, 418 
Caughnawaga Church, igi, 345 
Caughnawaga Company, 420, 423, 426 
Caughnawaga Indians, 58, 345 
Cayudutta Camp, 6, 9-1 1 
Cayudutta Creek, 6, g, 10 
Chalmers, John, 28S 
Champlain, Samuel, 2, 5, 11, 14, 38 
Chapel P'uriiiture, 87 
Chapin, Geo. W., 6 
Chase, Charles, 122 
Chase, Harrison, 305 
Chase, W. U., 164, 168 
Chenectadi, 431, 435 
Cherry Valley Massacre, 186, 211, 218, 

221, 222, 225, 228, 231, 265, 300> 

377 
Chickatabutt, 197 
Chippewas, 40 

Chouegen (Oswego), 429, 440 
Church, St. John's, 202 
Church at German Flats, 
Clark, Gardner, 320 
Clark, John M., 334 
Clark, Gen. John S., 28-30, 3S5 
Clark, " Puffy," 341, 342 
Clark, William G., 326 
Claus, Col. Daniel, 117, 121-123, I34. 

137, 141, 311, 344 
Claus, Graven Noek, 54, 155, 156, 164 
Clinton, Gen. James, 185 
Clizbe, Samuel, 2S9 
Coats, Joseph, 337 
Cobb, Rev. Sanford H., 77 
Coeyman, Andries, 82 
Cohoes, 49, 435 
Colden, 14 
Coles, Lewis, 54 

Columbus, Christopher, 13, 50, 87 
Conewawah, 266 
Conhogohery Castle, 311 
Conklin, Hon. Alfred, 297 
Connell, William, 338, 340, 342 
Conover, Catherine, 409 
Converse, Harriet Maxwell, 1S2 
Conyne, Peter, 219, 300 
Corey, D. P., 410 



Index 



447 



Corlear, 2i, 6i, 70, 431 

Cornbury, Lord, 156, 214 

Cornby, Gov., 85 

Cornelius, Broer, 156 

Cornplanters, 134 

Cortez, Ferdinand, i, 38 

Covenhoven, Kooleiffe, 406 

Cox, Col. Ebenezer, 41S, 420 

Courcelle, Gov., 57, 58, 61, 360 

Cousin, 13 

Couture. William, 41-43, 46 

Covvilligan Creek, 28, 54 

Crane, 297 

Cranesville, 37, 1 13, 133, 156, 157, 159, 

164, 280, 281, 354, 400, 405 
Creek, Cayudutta, 193, 198, 346, 350 
Creek, Chuctanunda, 133, 164, 167, 

2S3, 353, 397. 400, 40S 
Creek, Con-o-\va-da-ga, 3S2, 385 
Creek, Cowilligan, 28 
Creek, Danascara, 186 
Creek, Dove, 123. 141, 386 
Creek, Eva's Kill, 27, 155, 355 
Creek, Fish, 46 
Creek, Juchtanunda, 321 
Creek, Kayaderos, 128, 133 
Creek, I>e\vis, 27, 100, 155, 354. 355 
Creek, Sandsea, 37 
Creek, Schoharie, 29, 37, S2-S4, 212 
Creek, West Canada, 122, 226 
Creek, Wood, 372, 412, 439, 440 
Creek, Zandige, 37 
Croghan, Geo., 311 
Crosby, Henry, 399 
Crosby, William, 399 
Crouse, David, 342 
Cruikshank, E., 218, 219, 22S 
Currytown, 222, 268 
Cuyler, Ann, 156 

Cuyler, Hendrick, 24, 156, 164, 356 
Cuyler, Jacob C, 134 
Cuyler, John C, 134 



D 

Dalrymple, Sir John, 232 

Danube, 364, 376 

Davidson, Dr. Oliver, 137, 155 

Davies, James, 194 

Davis, William, 287 

Dawson, Henry B., 226 

Dayton Fort, 266, 432 

Dean, Bethuel, 400 

Dean, Daniel, 400 

Dean, James, 400 

Dean, Jehiel, 334 

Dean, John, 400 

Dean, Luther L., 400 



Deboise, Col. Benjamin, 402 

Deboise, Sarah, 402 

De Graff, Claus Andries, 54 

De Graff, Emmanuel, Capt., 282, 284 

De Graff, Emmanuel E., 290 

De Graff, Frederick, 283, 284 

De (iraff House, 65-67, 69 

De Graff, Isaac, 283, 2S4 

De Graff. Jeremiah, 283, 284 

De Graff, John, 284 

De Graff, John, Jr., 284 

De Graff, Nicholas, 283 

De Graff, Nicholas A., 69 

De Graffenreid, Christopher, 78 

Delamater, Dr. John, 402, 407 

Delancy, Gov. James, 311, 389 

Delancy, Oliver, 400 

De Mantet, 61 

De Moer, Philip Philipse, 54 

Dempster, Rev. Mr., gi 

Denonville, Marquis, 99 

Deseronto, 97 

De Trieux, Isaac, 54 

Devendorf, Charles A., 406 

Devendorf, Dewitt A., 88, 306 

Devendorf, George S., 140, 406 

Devendorf, Dr. Henry, 315 

De Wolfe, Charles, 337 

Dingman, Jane, 289 

Dongan, Governor, 156 

Donnacona, 13 

Doly, Philip, 406 

Douglass, Mr., 330 

Downs, Timothy, 290 

Drumm House, 237 

Dunning, George, 325, 326 

Dutch Boers. 57, 58, 77 

Du Thet, Father, 38 



Ehle House, 382, 384, 432 

Ellison, Rev. Mr., 91 

Enders, Rev. Jacob Henry, 315 

Enders, Peter L, 410 

Ernest, Fletcher, 400, 403, 404 

Esther, Queen, 214 



Falls, South Chuctanunda, I02 
Faulds, James, 340 
Feejee Islands, 293 
Ferguson, Charles, 400, 404 
Filkins, Almon, 335 
Fish Creek, 232 
Fiske, John, 3, 4 
Flack-Landt, 49 

Florida, N. Y., 54, 118, 131, 163, 279, 
300, 376, 399, 400, 401, 404, 405. 407 



448 



Index 



Florida Hills, 400, 40S 
Fonclaire, Jean Baptist de, 2oq 
Fonda, 6, 37, 134, 186, 193, 197, 279, 

344, 345. 390 
Fonda I)o\ve, 123 
Fondasbush, 209 
Fosmire, Edward, 346 
Fosmire, I-'rank, 340 
Frederic, Harold 141, 220 
Frederick, Peer, 406 
Frederick, Philip, 406 
Fremin, Father Jacques, 344 
French, Joseph, 336 
Prey, Heinrich, 377 
Frey House, 378, 3S0, 3S2, 432 
Frey, S. L., 377, 385 
Frontenac, Gov. Louis de FJuade, 58, 

9S-100, 107, 108, 1 12 
Frothingham, Washington, 117, 345 
Fuller, Samuel, 139 



Galway, 100, 232, 283, 321, 322, 324, 328 

Gandavvaga, 33, 34, 48, 344, 345, 353 

Gansevoort, Col. Peter, 415-417,419 

Ganzevoort, Harmon, 159 

Gardiner, Charles, 9 

Gardinier, Capt. Jacob, 425, 426 

Garrigan, Denis, 340 

Gaspe, 12 

Gastaldi map, 3 

Gates, Gen. Horatio, 411 

German Flats, 265, 266, 269, 281, 431, 

438; window at, 119, 364 
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 2 
Gi-on-gwah-tuh, 214 
Glacier Action at Little Falls, 363 
Glen, Captain, 62 
Glen House, 63 
Glen, Col. Jacob, 69 
Glen, Jacob, Jr., 69 
Glencoe Massacre, 232-239 
Glengarry, Canada, 230 
Glenville, 100, 316 
Glen-Sanders House, 126 
Gough, John B., 171 
Goupil, Rene, 38, 41-44 
Grais, Chevalier de, loS-iio, 112 
Grand River, 97, 273 
Grand Scarp, 4 
Great Falls, Cohoes, 435 
Great Fire, 65 
Green Psland, 49 
Green, Willis, 382, 386 
Greene, Elijah P., 339, 3^0 
Greene, Henry E., 3^9, 340 
Greene, Mrs. W. K., 287 



I Greene, William K., Junior, 2S9, 329, 

33S, 340 
Greene, William K., Senior, 329, 333, 

338 
Greenman, James, 410 
Grider, Rufus A., 3S6 
Griffis, \V. S., 118, 132-134 
(Iroot, Jacob, 28 1 
Groot, John, 2S4 
Groot, Lewis, 27, 133, 156, 160, 281, 

297. 354 
Groot, Lieut. Peter, 282 
Groot, Philip, 155, 156, 160, 2S0 
Groot, Simon, 281 
Groot Mill, 162 
Guerin, Elizabeth, 399 
Guerin, Maynard, 399 
Guy Park, 117, 121, 123, 134, 136, 137, 

139, 141, 149, 185, 194, 197, 202, 

276, 408 



H 



Hagaman, 282, 321, 330 
Hagaman, Joseph, 282, 284 
Hagaman, Nicholas, 284 
Hager, Captain, 175 
Haines, Jacob, 175 
Haldiman, Governor, 228, 268 
Half- Moon, 49 

Hamstraat, Grietje Takelse, 172 
Hanyost, 107, 108, 110-112 
Harper, Lieut., 176 
Harper, Col. John, 137, 225 
Harrison, Edward, 399, 402 
Harrison, Phillis, 399, 402 
Hartley, Robt. J\L, 9, 38 1 
Hawkins, Sir John, 2 
Hawley, Rev. Gideon, 213 
Heermanse, Naning, 276 
Helene, De Sainte, 61 
Helmer, Adam, 417 
Hell Hollow, 163 
Helling, William, 2S9 
Hendrick, Chief, 2ig, 376 
Hendrick, Fort, 385 
Hendrick, King, 122, 260, 261, 3S9, 430 
Henry, John V., 137, 293 
Henry, Wilkes, 293 
Herkimer, 432, 440, 443 
Herkimer, Fort, 266 
Herkimer, Gen. Nicholas, 220, 390, 392, 
415-41S, 420, 423, 424, 426, 428, 429, 

431 
Hibernian Furnace, 149 
Highlanders, Scotch, 230 
Hill, Mrs. J. M., 94, 97 
Hochelaga, 4, 5, 11-14, 38 
Hoffmans, 34, 37. 53, O5, 167, 181, 316 



Index 



449 



Holland, Captain, 212 

Hoofe's (Henrv) Patent 

Horsford, Prof. E. N., 2 

Houck, Jacob, 406 

liouck, Peter, 406 

Howe, General, 412 

How-gate, John, 335, 342 

Hubbs, John, 163 

Hudson, Boyd, gi 

Hudson. Henry, 2, 4, 4g, 53, 275 

Hudson River, 4, 49, 50, Si, 100, 107, 
1S2 

Hunter, P^irt, 33, 34, 37, 38, 50, 70, 
84, 86, 91, 94, 97, 103, 113, 137, 167, 
1S5, 197, 205, 212, 213, 222, 268, 273, 
275, 299, 303, 310, 311, 314, 3S5, 
408, 431 

Hunter, Gov. Robert, 81, 82, 84, 299 

Huron-Iroquois, 14, 40-42, 47 

Huron, I^ake, 39 

Hyer, Tom, 341 



Iberville, de, 61 

Indian Castle, 159, 376, 378, 382, 385, 

3S6, 430 
Indian Ford, 304 
Indian Fortification, 11 
Inglis, Rev. Mr., 86 
Ingram, David, 2 
Inland Lock and Navigation Co., 65, 

375, 440 
Irondequet, 440 
Iroquois, 11, 12, 14, 17, 19, 39, 42, 43, 

46-48, 50, 98, 99, 114, 133, 232. 275, 

345 



J 



Janson, Jacob, 44 

Jeronimus, 21, 24 

Jesuit Relations, 360 

Jesuits, 99 

Jogues, Isaac, 20, 29, 33, 34, 38, 40-48, 

53. 197, 344 

Johnson, " brown Lady," 118, 121 

Johnson, Caroline, 122 

Johnson, Charlotte, 122 

Johnson, Col. Guy, 1 17, 121, 123, 134, 
139-141, 219, 265, 273 

Johnson, Fort, 113, 114, 117, 118, 121- 
123, 127-129, 131, 133, 134, 137, 13S, 
141-143, 145, 150, 153, 154, 163, 164, 
185, 189, 194, 202, 212, 217, 276, 
280, 281, 300, 408, 419, 423 

Johnson Hall, 117, 121, 139, 194, 197, 
198, 200, 202, 217, 222, 225 

Johnson, .Sir John, 113, 117, 118, 134, 
25 



142, 146, iSo, 198, 205, 206, 213, 
220, 222, 228, 262, 268, 273, 412, 

415. 436 
Johnson, Mary, 114, 121, 123 
Johnson, Mount, 113, 133, 141, 1S5, 311 
Johnson, Nancy, 114, 121 
Johnson, R. Hall, 289 
Johnson, Sir William, 19, 46, 73, 86, 
87, 113, 114, 116-118, 121, 123, 127, 
12S, 131-134, 140-142, 146, 160, 
162, 185, 189, 193, 194, 197, 200, 
202, 205, 206, 212, 217-219, 225, 228, 
230, 232, 240, 259, 260, 266, 272, 
276, 279, 280, 294, 310, 314, 376, 
382, 385, 389, 400, 430, 431 
Johnson, Sir William, Hotel, 198 
Johnson's Royal Greens, 41S, 426 
Johnson's Settlement (Warrensbush), 

1 28, 400 
Johnstown, 6, g, 19, 113, 117, 121, 131, 
139, 186, 193, 194, ig7, 202, 209, 
212, 222, 225, 231, 232, 240, 271, 

279 
Johnstown court-house, 216 
Johnstown jail, 208 
Joncaire, Lieutenant Sieur de, 217 
Joncker, Jan Janse, 54 
Jones, .Samuel, 289 
Juchtanunda, 100, 104, 105. 107, 164, 

167, 181, 185 

K 

Kane, Charles, 297 
Kanyeageh, 104, 191, 197 
Kayaderos, 128, 146, 163 
Kayaderosseras, 1 14, 156, 194, 275, 
_ 2S0, 435 

Kellogg, George, 32S 
Kellogg, John, 325, 327 
Kellogg, Lauren, 287 
Kellogg, Lauren, Sr., 325, 327, 32S 
Kellogg, Rev. Mr., 205 
Kellogg, Supplina, 321, 322, 325-327 
Kennedy, Harvey, 410 
Kennedy, Henry, 137, 2S4 
Kinaquarione, 30, 53, iSi, 1S2, 408 
Kinderhook, 172 
Kingsborough Patent, 193, 194 
Kingsland Grant, 134, 194 
Kirkland, Rev. Samuel, 272 
Kleyn, Johannes, 54 
Kline, 27-29, 33, 344, 356 
Kline, Oliver S., 27 
Kline, .Stephen H., 337 
Kline, William, 283, 284 
Kline, William J., 309 
Kouri, Fort, 430-432 
Krin, Kryn, the great Mohawk, 58, 61, 
345 



450 



Index 



Labatie, Jean, 34, 44 

Lachine Rapids, 345, 353 

Lacrock (Lacrois), 2g 

Lafayette, Marquis de, 221, 293 

Laimbier, George, 3gS 

Lake Agassiz, 364 

Lake Champlain, 14, iS, 19, 37, 41, 42, 

46, 57, 100, 437 
Lake Erie, 364 
Lake Featherstonehaugh, 30 
Lake George, 37, 42, 46, 1 14, 194, 205, 

260, 300, 381, 439 
Lake Huron, 39, 364 
Lake Iroquois, 14 
Lake Michigan, 364 
Lake Oneida, 372, 429, 439 
Lake Ontario, 108, 363, 364, 372, 436, 

439 
Lake Otsego, 377 
Lake Saint Peter, 41, 42 
Lake Saint Sacrament, 46 
Lake Saratoga, 37, 232 
Lake Spencer, 364, 371 
Lake Superior, 364 
Lalande, 47, 48 
Lalemant, Charles, 38, 39 
Lamberville, Father de, 104, 107, 197, 

353 
La Moyne, 61 
Lansingburg, 172 
La Prairie, 344 
La Saussaye, 3 
Lel^anon, Conn., 260 
Le Berger, 48 

Legend of Mrs. Charles Ross, 240-2 5 8 
Leisler, Lieut. -Gov. Jacob, 229, 299 
Lepper, Fred, 283 
Lepper, Jacob, 123, 124 
Leroy, Monsieur de, 412 
Lescarbot, 3, 14 
Lilly of the Mohawks, 346, 353 
Little Falls, 266, 362-364, 366, 370, 

372, 374, 376, 431. 432, 440 
Little, Major John, 194 
Littlejohn, Rt. Rev. A. N., 92 
Loft, Mrs. John, 273 
Lorrimer, John, 335 
Lossing, Benj. J., 121, 211, 260, 266 

367 
Lovers' Leap, 367 
Loyalists, 229, 230 



M 



Maalwyck, 54 
Mabee, Abraham, 69 
Mabie, Jan, house, 73, 75 



Mabie Patent, 279 

Mabie, Simon, 54 

Mahaqua (.Maquaas), 5, 21 

Mailor, James, 341 

Mailor, William, 341 

^Laiollo Map, 3 

Major, Walter i\L, 2S0 

Mandeville, Catherine, 409 

Maney, Prof. John Arthur, 310, 346, 

43^)' 
Manhattan, 46 
Manheim, 364 
Manny, Gabriel, 284, 2S8 
Manny's Corners, 2S4, 2SS 
Marcellus, Abram, 141 
Mariaville pond, 29, 30, 33, 360 
Marselis, Ahasuarus, 284 
Mary's (Saint), Church, 177 
Massacre of Glencoe, 233-239 
Masse, Ennemond, 38 
Maxwell, George, 137 
Mayfield, 279 
Medashet, 23 
Megapolensis, 45 
Menendes, 38 

Mercator's Duisburg map, 3 
Miles, Daniel, 137, 284, 2go 
Miller, Cornelius, 287 
Miller, James A., 32S 
Miller's Corners, 399 
Mina, Gen. Francis, 405 
Minaville, 304, 401, 403, 405, 406 
Minisink, 271, 273 
Mission of the Martyrs, 47 
Mitchell, Walter, 340 
Mitchell's Cave, 3S1 
Moer, Philip Philipse de, 159 
Mohawks, 5, 12, 14, 19-21, 24, 34, 40, 

44-47, 94, 100, 107, 109, 114, 127, 

128, 159, 181, 1S2, 193, 212 
Mohawk Castle, 34, 46, 311 
Mohawk Flats, 155 
Mohawk Hill, 439 
Mohawk Valley, 1,4, 5, 19, 20, 34, 38, 

49, 50, 98, 100, 138, 146, 185, 194, 

211, 222 
Mohicans, 4, 24, 30, 35, 181, 182, 197 
Montagues Indians, 3, 17 
Montespan, Madame, 98 
Montesson, De, 61 
Montgomery, 117, 279 
Montmagny, General Chevalier de, 46 
Montour, Andrew, 217 
Montour, Catherine, 214, 217, 218, 
Montour, John, 218 
Montour, Mr., 217, 311 
Montour, Rowland, 218 
Montpensier, Mdlle., 98 
Montreal, 4, 5, 11-14, 38, 46, 58, 99 



Index 



451 



Moore, Rev. Thoroughgood. S5 
Morris. Abram v., 1O4, 16S, 171, i/2, 

175. 179, iSo, 280 
Morris, Commodore Charles, 297 
Morris, Charles II. C, 164, 180 
Morris, Francis, 27, iSfJ 
Morris, Isaac, 171. iSo 
Morris, Mrs. Isaac, 164, 172, 175 
Morris, Isaac, Jr., 164, iSo 
Morris, James Stewart, iSo 
Morris, John F., 164, iSo, 39S 
Morris, Lewis, iSo 
Morris, Lewis, Jr., 82 
Morris, Margaret, 180 
Morris, Tunis, iSo 
Moss Island, 362, 364 
McCleary, William, 335, 342 
McCowatt, David, 340 
McCowatt, Walter K., 34° 
MacDonald, Captain, 231 
MacDonald, John, 339- 340 
MacDonalds of Glencoe, 232 
McGorck, James, 137. 297 
McGorck, Sarah, 137 
MacGregors, 303 
McNally, James, 341 

N 

Narvaes, 3S 

Nave (Neff), Adam, 2S4 

Nelliston, 37S 

Netherlands, New, 21 

Nevins, John, 341 

Newberne, 7S 

Newman, Charles, 354 

Niagara, 221, 222, 268, 439 

Nicholson, Colonel Francis, 81, «4 

Niskayuna, 49 

Norton, Levi, 295 

Norumbega, i, 2, 34 

Nsarcane, 49 



O 



Ogilvie. Rev. John, 86 

Oioghi, 24, 43 , . 

Old stone kitchen at \\emples, 30b 

Oneida, N. V., 21 

Oneidas, 21. 23, 79 , 

Onekagoncka, 23, 24, 2S-30. 33, 35^ 

Oneougoure, 33. 47, 4S 

Onistagrawa, 175 

Onjagara, 439 

Onondaga Chapel, 84 

Onondaga silver, 97 

Onondagas, 99, 108, 344 

Oosterhoadt, Joseph, 287 

Orange, Fort, 20, 21, 23, 28. 29. 33, 34- 



45, 46. 53, 5S, 61, 62, 65. S5, 298, 

360,431,435 
Oriskany, 220, 231, 26s, 2/4, 2b2, 4", 

415, 420, 431, 435, 440 
Oriskany battle-field, View ^o. i, 422 
Oriskany battle-field. View No. 2, 427 
Oriskany battle-field. View No. 3, 437 
Oriskany monument, 414 
Ormonde, Dukes of. 220 
Oronhyatekha, 94 
Ortelius map, 3 
Os-se-ru-e-non, 20, 29. 33, 34, 43, 45, 

46. 4S, 53, 65 
Oswego, 412, 415, 426, 429 
Ottawas, 40 
Ouctanunda Creek, 321 



Palatine Bridge, 377, 3S5 

Palatines, 77, S2, S3, 231, 275, 364, 

431,432,435 
Paris, Colonel Isaac, 418, 420 
Parker, Sergeant, 226, 227 
Paikman, Francis, 12, 14, 34, 38, 39 
Pattersonville, 30, 299, 360 
Peck, Tunis, 340 
Peek, Chris., 2S4 
Peek, Jacobus, 54 
Penobscot River, 3 
Pentegoet, 3 
Peobles Island, 49 
Perkins, William, 330 
Perth, 232, 276, 283 
Phillips, Alexander, 280 
Phillips, Cornelius, 406 

Phillips, Hamilton, 280 

Phillips, Lewis, 131, 4o6 

Phillips's Lock, 2S0 

Phillips, William, 194, 406 

Phillipse, Philip, 160 

Pierce, Richard, 2S9 

Pierron, Father Francis de, 344 

Pierson, Professor Jonathan, 20, 24, 

49, 74 
Pinson, 13 
Pizarro, i 

Plain, Fort, 266, 432 
Ponce de Leon, 38 
Port Jackson, 92, 159, 405 
Port Royal, 3 

Potter, Rt. Rev. Bishop, 205 
Praying Indians, 58, 344, 345 
Pulaski, Count, 271 
Putnam, Clara, 117, iiS 

Q 



Quackenboss, John, 46 
Ouebec, 11, 12, 14, 38 



452 



Index 



Queen Anne, Sr, 82, 84 

Qaeen Anne's Chapel, 84-87, 91, 92, 
113, 185, 197, 202, 273, 299, 300, 
303, 309. 310, 314, 408, 431 

Queen Anne's communion service, 94, 
96, 97 

Queen Anne's parsonage, 89, 137 

Queen's Fort, 70, 73 

Quentin, Father, 38 

Quiddar, 19 

Quinte, Bay of, 94, 97, 273 



R 



Raleigh, Sir Walter, 2 

Randall, Charlotte, 122 

Randall, Henry, 122 

Rattlesnakes, 3S2 

Reid, Edward, 289 

Reid, Mrs. Edward, 232 

Reid, Myron W., 9 

Reid, William, 171, 289, 290 

Rensselaerswyck, 20, 41, 43, 45 

Reynolds, Marcus T., 292, 293, 297 

Ribault, Jean, 38 

Richelieu, Fort, 48 

Richelieu River, 41, 42, 46 

Richmond, A. G., 9, il, 259, 309 

Roberts, Benj., 54 

Roberval, 2 

Roctbn, 342 

Rode, the Mohawk chief, 164 

Roger's Slide, 3S1 

Rome, N. Y., 49, 372, 412, 431, 436, 

439, 440, 443 
Romeyn, Rev. Thomas, 404 
Roseboom, Anthony, 295 
Roseboom, Garret, 290, 295 
Ross, Capt. Charles, 240 
Ross, Mrs. Charles, legend of, 240-258 
Ross, George, 288 
Ross, Major, 222, 225, 226, 26S 
Rotterdam, 73, 280 
Royal grant, 134 



Sacandaga trail, 69 

Sager, Frederick, 175 

Sammons, Thos., 133 

Sammonsville, g 

Sand Flat, 181, 349 

Sanford, John, 330, 333, 334, 336 

Sanford, Stephen, 2S3, 288, 289, 333, 

334. 336. 337, 339, 340 
Saratoga, 231, 417, 436 
Saugerties, 77, 81 
Schanatissa, 30 
Schenectady, 20, 21, 24, 37, 49, 50, 53, 



58, 61, 65, 66, 69, 70, 73, 82, 84, 98- 

100, iiS, 133, 155, 156, 159, 160, 

163, 172, 175, 212, 275, 2S1, 299, 

345, 359, 410 
Schenectady map, 152 
.Schenectady Patent, 24, 172 
Schernierhorn, Reyer, 54, 300 
Schoharie, 50, 77, 81, 82, 91, 175, iSo, 

197, 212, 265, 279, 295, 304, 359, 

360, 431 
Schoo, 49 
Schorie, 82 
Schorowe, 50, 53 
Schuler family, 403 
Schuler, George, 2S3, 284 
Schuler, Lawrence, 402, 404, 406, 407 
Schuyler, Fort, 220, 262, 267, 274, 411, 

412, 414, 416. 417, 419, 436, 440 
Schuyler, Han Yost, 221 
Schuyler, Jeremiah, 134 
Schuyler, Peter, 19, 62, 81, 84, 107, 

274, 412 
Schuyler, Philip, 1S5, 265, 274, 412 
Schuylerville, 412 
Scotch Highlander, 230 
-Scotia Bridge, 395 
Scott, Alexander, 288 
Scowton, Derick, 232 
Scramling, 376, 377 
Scramling, Henry, 376 
Senatsycrosy, 23, 29 
Sennekens, 21, 23 
Serviss, Christian, 406 
Serviss, George, 406 
Serviss, Peter, 406 
Seths, Henry, 176, 179, iSo 
S'Gaun-ho-ha, 50 
Sliepard, David, 289 
Sherburne, John, 410 
Shuler, William S., 297 
Shuttleworth, Herbert, 338 
Shuttleworth, James, 33S 
Shuttleworth, John, 338 
Shuttleworth, Walter, 338 
Shuttleworth, William, 33S 
Sickarus, 23 
Simms, Jeptha R., 13S, 139, 160, 172, 

175, 269 
Simmons, Hiram, 340 
Simpson, John, 337 
Si.vbury, Adam, 2S3 
Six Nations, 117, 127 
Slaagboom, 20 
Smith, Geo., 137, 146 
Smith, Elijah, 337 
Smith & Wells, 377 
Smith, William B., 335 
Sohanidisse, 30 
Soils map, 3 



Index 



453 



Soto, Hernando de, 38 

Spalt, Charles, 398 

Spencer, Thomas, 415, 417 

Sprakers, 378 

St. Ann's Church, 88, 92, 313 

St. George's Church, 70 

St. Ignatius Loyola, 38 

St. John's Church, 202, 204, 205 

St. Johnsville, 37S 

St. Leger, Col. Barry, 412, 415, 416, 

418, 426, 436 
St. Lawrence River, i, 5, 11, 13, 14, 

38, 41, 46, 47, 104, 345, 363, 436 
St. Mary's, Charlton, 176 
St. Patrick's Lodge, 200 
St. Sauveur, 3 
Stadacona, 11-13, 38 
Stairs, Earl of, 232 
Staley, George, 406 
Staley, Jacob, 406 
Stanton, Joseph, 410 
Stanton, Nathan, 406 
Stanwix, Fort, 274, 412 
Steene, Raby, 172 
Stevens, Arent, 193, 311 
Stewart, Duncan, 289 
Stewart, James, 137-140 
Stone, W. L., 132, 134, 217, 311 
Stoner, Nicholas, 209, 210 
Stuart, Rev. John, 86, 97, 277 
Stuyvesant, Gov. Peter, 299, 3S2 
Sugden, James T., 335 
Sullivan, Gen. John, 1S5, 217. 21S, 

222, 226, 266 
Sullivan, Yankee, 34 
Swart, Jasaias, 54 
Swart, Judge, 179 
Swartout, Capt. Abraham, 416 
Sweet, John, 127 
Sweet, Spencer, 127 
Swits, Isaac, 300 
Switzer Hill, 186, 211, 212, 219 
Sye-jo-den-a-wadde, 164 
Symonce, Garret, 84, 219 



Talbot, Rev, Mr., 85 

Tampico, 2 

Tamwarot, 23 

Taylor, Rev. John, 137, 321, 327 

Tekakwitha, Kateri, 104, 197, 355 

Tekakwitha Spring, 346, 34S, 349, 353 

Thayendanegea, 260 

Thayer, Ezra, 284 

Thomas, Henry, 28S, 289 

Thomas, William, 2S9 

Three Rivers, 41, 46 

Tice, Gilbert, 194-209 



Tiononderoga, 50, 84, 103, 104, 107, 

185,275, 279, 303, 315 
Ti-o-non-to-guen, 43 
Tobacco Nations, 40 
Toll, Carl Hanson, 54, 156 
Toll, Daniel, 66 
Tomassen, William, 23 
Tonnosatton, 23 
Towereune, 53, 181, 182, 408 
Tracy, M. de, 57, 58, 360 
Trenton Falls, loS 
Trianon, Anne de la Grange, 98 
Tribes Hill, 118, 186, 209, 212, 283 
Trinity Church, 86, 92 
Troy, 49 

Tryon County, 206, 228, 229, 279 
Tryon, Gov., 279 
Tryon map, 186, 212 
TuUock, 290 
Tusten, Colonel, 271 

U 

Union Hall, 209 
Upham, Warren, 364 
Urquhart, Rev. John, 273 
Utica, 412, 417, 443 

V 

Van Alstyne House, 278 

Van Coppernol, Chas. Williamse, 54, 

159 
\ an Cprlear, Anthony, 382 
Van Curler, Arent. 19, 20, 21, 23, 28, 
29, 30, 33, 37, 44, 53, 65, 298, 304, 
^310, 359, 
Van Curler's Journal, 19 
Van den Bergh, Cornelius, 172 
Vanderdonk map, 29, 30, 33, 360 
Van Derveer, Catherine, 410 
Van Derveer, Cornelius Janse, 409 
\'an Derveer, Dominicus, 409 
Van Derveer, Emily, 410 
Van Derveer, Garret, 409 
Van Derveer, Helena, 410 
Van Derveer, Hendrick, 409 
Van Derveer, Henry, 410 
Van Derveer, Jane, 410 
Van Derveer, John, 400, 406, 40S-410 
Van Derveer, J. Watts, 410 
Van Derveer, Sarah, 410 
Van Derveer, Theodore B., 306, 309 
Van Derveer, Tunis, 409 
Van Derveer, Tunis I., 327, 410 
Vandreuil, M. de, 217 
Van Epps, Johannes, 156 
Van Epps, Percy N., 381 
Van Home, C. F., 381 
Van Home, Tames, iiS 



454 



Index 



Van Olinda, Jacob, 159 

Van Olinda, Pieter, 54, 156, 159, 

160 
Van Patten, Arent, 84, 299 
Van Rensselaer, deneral, 267 
Van Rensselaer, Killian, 20, 53 
Van Schaicks Island, 49 
Van Schaicks, John J., 137 
Van Slyke, Cornelius Antonisse, 156 
Van Slyke, Hilletie, 156, 169 
Van Slyke, Jacques Cornelius, 54, 156, 

172, 299, 3S6 
Van Slyke Lea, 156 
Van Slyke, Martin, 156 
Van Vorst, Dirck, 66, 69 
\'an\vormer, Peter, 2S2 
Vedder, Albert H., 137, 2S4, 333 
Vedder Grist Mill, 1S5 
Vedder, Harmon, 287 
Vedder, Isaac, 283, 287 
Vedder, Nicholas, 410 
Vedder, Volkert, 287 
Veddersburg, 2S3, 284, 333, 405 
Verrazano, 2 

Viele, Petier Cornelius, 54 
Visscher, Colonel John, 41S, 420, 423, 

444 
Visscher's map, 360 
Voorhees, Elizabeth, 292--294 
Voorhees, George M., 290 
Voorhees, James, 315 
Voorhees, Dr. Samuel, 292-294 
Voorhees, Stephen, 290, 293 
Vrooman, Abram, 175, 179, iSo 
Vrooman, Adam, 62, 82, 163, 164, 172, 

179, 180 
Vrooman, Barant, 84, 172, 299 
Vrooman, Lieut. Ephraim, 175, 176 
Vrooman, Mrs. Ephraim, 176, 179 
Vrooman, Harmanus, 175 
Vrooman. Hendrick, 84, 299 
Vrooman, Hendrick Meese, 172, iSo 
Vrooman, Jacob, 172 
Vrooman, Jan, 172 
Vrooman, Jane, 172, 180 
A'rooman, John, 180 
Vrooman, Pieter, 54, 172, 175, 180 
Vrooman, Simon, 179 
Vrooman, Captain Tunis, 175, 176 
Vrooman, Wouter, 172 
Vyoge (Oioghi), 2i, 24 

W 

Wade, Farrel, 218 

Wade, James, 337 

Wallin, Samuel, 340 

Walworth, Rev. C. A., map, 346 



Walworth, Ellen H., 385 

Ward, Fountain, 340 

Ward, Samuel, 340 

Warren, Sir Peter, 113, 12S, 131, 132, 

162, 212, 279, 280, 399, 400 
Warrensbush, 113, 12S, 132, 1S5, 222, 

265, 268, 400, 405 
Warrentown, Ireland, 2S0 
Warwick, Earl of, 261 
Washington, George, 117, 134 
Waterford, 49 
Waterman, Asa, 406 
Watson, Chas., 175 
Watts, Mary, 118 
Watts, Mayor, 418, 426 
Watts, John, 410 
Webb, General, 412 
Weed, Thurlow, 296 
Weisenburg, Catherine, 113, iiS, 121, 

122, 131, 134, 146, 160, 205 
Wells, Edward, 225 
Wells, Eleazer, 225 
Wells, Mrs. John E., 200 
Wemp (Wemple), Jan, 219, 385, 3S6 
Wemple, Parent, 299 
Wemple, Cornelius, Mrs., 303 
Wemple, Emory, 303, 305 
Wemple, Ephraim, 300, 303 
Wem]3le, Gilbert, 303, 304 
Wemple, Isaac, 300 
Wemple, Jan, 84, 299, 303, 404 
Wemple,, Jan Barentse, 29S, 299, 309 
Wemple, John, Jr., 300 
Wemple, Myndert, 2S4, 299 
Wetdashet, 29, 37 
Wheelock, Dr., 260 
Wliittier, John G., 2 
Wilde, Obediah, 141 
Willegen, Vlachte, 156, 160 
Willet, Col. Marinus, 222, 225, 226, 

268, 271, 415, 42S 
Williams, Chas., 279 
Williams. Fort, 430, 431 
Willow Flat, 156, 159, 160, 167 
Wilmot, Anne, 399 
Wilson and Abeel Patent, 128, 134 
Wilson, Ebenezer, 134 
Wilson, Henry, 191 
Wilson, James, 134 
Wilson, Gen. James Grant, 21 
Wilson, Miss Margaret, 189, 191 
Wolf Hollow, 315, 31S 
Wood Creek, 429, 439, 440 
Wood, Mayor, 272 
Wormwood, Lieut., 262 
Wright, William, 330 
Wynne, Father J., 344 
Wyoming, 211, 213, 217, 218, 231, 265, 

273 



Index 



455 



Yankee Hill, 400 
Yankee Sullivan, 34 
Yankee Street, 405 
Yantaputchaberg, 30 
Yaunney's garden, 310 
Yost Peter, 194 



Young, Almarin, 137 
Ynung, Almarin T., 142 
Young, Peter, 194, 406 
Young, William, 406 
Younglove Homestead, 209 



Zeh, Magdalena, S2 



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the trees of Northeastern America. By Charles S. NE'W'HALL. Illustrated. 

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" The idea of the book is so good and so simple as to recommend itself at a glance to 
everybody who cares to know our trees or to make for any purpose a collection of their leaves. ' ' 
—N. Y. Critic. 



Q. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, 27 & 29 West 23d St., New York 



BOOKS FOR THE C OUNTRY 

NATURE STUDIES IN BERKSHIRE 

By John Coi^Eman Adams. With i6 illustrations iu photogravure from 

original photographs by Arthur ScoTT. Photogravure edition. 8°, gilt top, 

I4.5C. Popular edition. Illustrated. $2.50. 

" The spirit of the region is very happily caught by the author, who is fond of outdoors, 
and a sympathetic chronicler of the events of field and woodland. . . . The pictures in the 
book are verj- fine indeed. . . . The style of the narrative is clear and unaflected, and the 
book is one that will not easily be relinquishea when once taken in hand. The book is 
attractive and sumptuous, a credit to the printer's art." — Oiz'ca^o Evening Pod. 

LANDSCAPE GARDENING 

Notes and Suggestions on Lawns and Lawn-Planting, Laying out and Ar- 
rangement of Country Places, Large and Small Parks, Cemetery Plots, and 
Railway-Station Lawns ; Deciduous and Evergreen Trees and Shrubs, The 
Hardy Border, Bedding Plants, Rock work, etc. By SamuEI/ Parsons, Jr., Ex- 
Superintendent of Parks, New York City. With nearly 200 illustrations. 
Large 8°, I3.50. 

" Mr. Parsons proves himself a master of his art as a landscape gardener, and this superb 
book should be studied by all who are concerned in the making of parks in other cities,"^ 
Philadelphia Bulletin. 

LAWNS AND GARDENS 

How to Beautify the Home Lot, the Pleasure Ground, and Garden. By 
N. JoNSSON-RoSE, of the Department of Public Parks, New York City. With 
172 plans and illustrations. Large 8°, gilt top, 13.50. 

" Mr. JOnsson-Rose has prepared a treatise which will prove of genuine value to the large 
and increasing number of those who take a personal interest in their home grounds. It does 
not aim above the intelligence or sesthetic sense of the ordinary American citizen who has 
never Riven any thought to planting and to whom some of the profounder principles of gar- 
den-art make no convincing appeal." -6"a;-rf^« and Forest. 

ORNAMENTAL SHRUBS 

For Garden, Lawn, and Park Planting. With an Account of the Origin, 
Capabilities, and Adaptations of the Numerous Species and Varities, Native and 
Foreign, and Especially of the New and Rare Sorts, Suited to Cultivation in the 
United States. By Lucius D. Davis. With over 100 illustrations. 8°, I3. 50. 

"Mr. Davis writes with authority upon his chosen theme. . . . The book is full of 
information upon the subject of which it treats, and contains many suggestions that may 
prove helpful."— .V. )'. Times. 

THE WONDERS OF PLANT LIFE 

By Mrs. S. B. Herrick. Fully illustrated. 16°, f;i.5o. 

The only thing aimed at is to give the more important types in a popular 
way, avoiding technicalities where ordinary language could be substituted, and, 
where it could not, giving clear explanations of the terms. 

" .\ dainty volume . . . opens up a whole world of fascination . . . full of infor- 
mation." — Boston Advertiser. 

OUR INSECT FRIENDS AND FOES 

How to Collect, Preserve and vStudy Them. By Beli,E S. Cragin. With. 

over 250 illustrations. 8°, I1.75. 

" Although primarily intended for boys and girls, it can hardly fail to enlist the aid of 
the older members of the family ; and for the amateur collector of all ages who has all the 
requisite enthusiasm but lacks a practical knowledge of the art of preserving specimens, it 
should receive a warm welcome." — A'. Y. Commercial Advertiser. 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, 27 & 29 West 23d St., New York 



Historic Towns of the Southern States 

Edited by Lyman P. Powell. With introductioii by 
W. P. Trent. With about 175 illustrations. Large 
8°, gilt top ...... net jj:3 00 

Contents : Baltimore, By St. George L. Sioussat ; Annapolis 
and Frederick, by Sara Andrew Shafer ; Washington, by F A. 
Vanderlip ; Richmond, by William Wirt Henry ; Williamsburg, 
by Lyon G. Tyler ; Wilmington, N. C, by J. P.. Cheshire ; 
Charlestown, by Yates Snowden ; Savannah, by Pleasant A. 
Stoval ; St. Augustine, by G. R. Fairbanks ; Mobile, by Peter 
J. Hamilton ; Montgomery, by George Petrie ; New Orleans, 
by Grace King ; Vicksburg, by H. F. Simrall ; Knoxville, by 
Joshua W. Caldwell ; Nashville, by Gates P. Thruston ; Louis- 
ville, by Lucien V. Rule ; Little Rock, by George B. Rose. 

"This very charming volume is so exquisitely gotten up, the scheme is so 
perfect, the seventeen writers have done their work with such hisLorical accuracy 
and with such literary skill, the illustrations are so abundant and so artistic, that 
all must rejoice that Mr. Powell ever attempted to make the historical pilgrim- 
ages." — yournal oj" Education. 



Historic Towns of the Western States 

Edited by Lyman P. Powell. With introduction by 
R. G. Thvvaites. With 218 illustrations. Large 8^, 
gilt top. (By mail $3.25) . . .net %z 00 

Contents : Detroit, by Silas Farmer ; Chicago, by Hon. Lyman 
r. Gage; St. Louis, by F. M. Crunden ; Monterey, by Harold 
Bake ; San Francisco, by Edwin iMarkham ; Portland, by Rev. 
Thomas L. Cole ; Madison, by Prof. R. G. Thwaites ; Kansas 
City, by Charles S. Gleed ; Cleveland, by President Charles F. 
Thwing ; Cincinnati, by Hon. M. E. Ailes ; Marietta, by .Muriel 
Q. Dyar ; Des Moines, by Ur. F. L Herriot ; Indianapolis, by 
Hon. Perry S. Heath; Denver, by J- C. Dana; Omaha, by Dr. 
Victor Rosewater ; Los Angeles, by Florence E. Winslow ; Salt 
Lake City, by Prof. James E. Talmage ; Minneapolis and St. 
Paul, by Hon. Charles B. Elliott ; Santa F6, by Dr. F. W. 
Ilofige; Vincennes, by W. II. Smith. 



Q. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, New York and London 



Simcncau Bistovic Toxuns 



Historic Towns of New England 

Edited by Lyman P. Powell. With introduction by 

George P. Morris. With i6i illustrations. Large 

8°, gilt top net $3 00 

Contents : Portland, by Samuel T. Pickard ; Rutland, by 

Edwin D. Mead ; Salem, by George D. Latimer ; Boston, by 

Thomas Wentworth Higginson ; Cambridge, by Samuel A. Eliot ; 

Concord, by Frank A. Sanborn ; Plymouth, by Ellen Watson ; 

Cape Cod Towns, by Katharine Lee Bates ; Deerfield, by 

George Sheldon ; Newport, by Susan Coolidge ; Providence, by 

William B. Weeden ; Hartford, by Mary K. Talcott ; New 

Haven, by Frederick Hull Cogswell. 

"These monographs have permanent literary and historical value. They 
are from the pens of authors who are s:iturated with their themes, and do not 
write to order, but con amor,'. The henutiful letterpress adds greatly to the 
attractiveness of the book." — The IVaickinan. 

" The authors of the Boston papers have succeeded in presenting a wonderfully 
interesting account in which none of the more important events have been 
omitted. . . . the quaint Cape Cod towns that have clung tenaciously to 
their old-fashioned ways are described with a characteristic vividness by ^liss 
Bafes. . . . The other papers are presented in a delightfully attractive 
manner that will serve to make more deeply cherished the memory of the places 
described." — New York limss. 



Historic Towns of tiie Middle States 

Edited by Lyman P. Powell. With introduction by 
Dr. Albert Shaw. \\'ith 135 illustrations. Large 

8°, gilt top net $3 co 

Contents : Albany, by W. W. Battershall ; Saratoga, by 
Ellen H. Walworth ; Schenectady, by Judson S. Landon ; New- 
burgh, by Adelaide Skeel ; Tarrytown, by H. W. Mabie ; Brook- 
lyn, by Harrington Putnam ; New York, by J. B. Gilder ; Buffalo, 
by Rowland B. .\Lahany ; Pittsburgh, by S. H. Church ; Phila- 
delphia, by Talcott Williams ; Princeton, by W. M. Sloane ; 
Wilmington, by E. N. Vallandigham. 

" Mr. Powell's contributors have prepared a most interesting collection of 
papers on important landmarks of the Middle States. The writers enter into the 
history of their respective towns with much elaborateness." — N. J'. Tribune. 



Q. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, New York and London 



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